Etymologically
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céleri

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sel.ʁi/[1]
  • IPA: /sɛl.ʁi/[1]

Forms

céleri m (plural céleris)[1] Scellerin (1419), scelereau (15th century), celeris, seleris (1651), sceleri (1656).[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Lombard seleri, a plural corresponding to Tuscan Italian sedano,[2][3][4][1][5] from Late Latin selinon (“parsley; celery”), from Ancient Greek σέλινον (sélinon, “a kind of wild celery”).[2][3][4][1] It is not known whether the Greek word is native or borrowed; it gave the Sicilian place name Selinous (Selinunte).[3]

Littré traces the word through popular Italian “sellaro” and Brescian “seleno”, and notes that it passed from France into the north: German Sellerie, Dutch selderij.[6] Southern French dialects instead say “api”, from Latin apium, the source of ache.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Scellerin is recorded in 1419,[2][3] and the medieval cookery book Le Viandier has paon au scelereau, peacock with celery.[2]

Semantic evolution

The plant was grown for two uses: the leaf stalks (céleri en branches, céleri à côtes) and the root (céleri-rave, from 1782).[3][2] By metonymy céleri is also the edible part, as in céleri rémoulade.[3][7]

Despite the accent, it is usually pronounced /sɛlʁi/, and the Petit Robert and the Académie prefer the spelling cèleri.[2][7][8]

Timeline

  • 1419 – Scellerin.[2][3]
  • 15th century – Scelereau in Le Viandier.[2][4]
  • 1651 – Celeris in La Varenne's Cuisinier françois.[2][9]
  • 1656 – Sceleri d'Italie.[2]
  • 1694 – First recorded by the Académie.[2]
  • 1782 – Céleri-rave.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Celery, the garden plant Apium graveolens grown for its stalks or its root (céleri-rave, celeriac).[7][8]
  2. The edible stalks or root: céleri rémoulade.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 416a
  6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse