ciguë

Forms

ciguë f (countable and uncountable, plural ciguës)^[1] Old French cëue, then ceguë and siguë;^[2][3] ciguë from 1611.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French ceguë, a semi-learned refashioning, after the Latin, of cëue, inherited from Latin cicūta (“hemlock”).^[2][3][4][5] The older form was the regular outcome of the Latin word and survives in Norman chue.^[3][6][7] Wiktionary puts the kept /g/ down to southern Gallo-Romance influence, partial relatinization, or a liking for a fuller form.^[1] The origin of the Latin word is uncertain;^[3] Rey notes that Ernout and Meillet group it with other plant and animal names beginning with a consonant, a vowel and a consonant, such as cicāda and cicōnia.^[3]

Cognate with Old Occitan cicuda, Spanish cicuta and Italian cicuta.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ceguë is first found about 1210, rhyming with cornue, in Guillaume le Clerc's Bestiaire; the older cëue is recorded in 1180–1190 in Alexandre de Paris's Alexandre.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word names a plant of the umbellifer family, some kinds of which are poisonous, and by metonymy the poison drawn from it, which the Athenians gave to men condemned to death; it has stayed linked with the death of Socrates.^[3][8] The Roman de la Rose already tells of those who killed par cegue.^[7] Several plants share the name: the great hemlock, the lesser or fool's parsley, and the water hemlock.^[7][9]

Timeline

• 1180–1190 – The Old French form cëue in Alexandre de Paris.^[2][3]
• c. 1210 – Ceguë in Guillaume le Clerc's Bestiaire.^[2][3]
• c. 1265 – Siguë in Brunetto Latini's Trésor.^[2]
• 1555 – The learned cicutaire is formed on the Latin stem.^[3]
• 1611 – Cotgrave spells it ciguë.^[2][3][8]
• 1836 – cicutine (first cicutin, 1824) names the alkaloid of great hemlock.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. hemlock: any of several poisonous plants of the umbellifer family: grande ciguë, petite ciguë, ciguë d'eau.^[2][9][8]
2. The poison made from great hemlock, used in ancient Athens to put the condemned to death: Socrate but la ciguë.^[9][8][3]

Related words

• cicutine
• cicutaire
• Latin cicūta

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 668a
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert