coing

Forms

coing m (plural coings)^[1] Old French codoin (11th century), cooin, cooing (about 1170).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French cooing, inherited from Latin cotōneum (“quince”), short for cotōneum mālum (“quince apple”).^[3][2][1][5] The TLFi calls the word borrowed from imperial Latin, while the DHLF and Wiktionary treat it as inherited.^[2][3][1] The Latin word is probably an altered form of Ancient Greek κυδώνιον (kudṓnion), from κυδώνια μῆλα (kudṓnia mē̂la, “fruits of Cydonia”), a town in Crete;^[2][3][1] Rey thinks the alteration came about because the word reached Rome through the Etruscans.^[3]

Latin also had cydōneum, and Bloch and Wartburg leave the link between the two forms open: either it is the Cretan town's name passed on by the Etruscans, or the name of Kytonion in Asia Minor reshaped after the Cretan town.^[6] Rey adds that the Greek phrase was itself remade from an older word, borrowed from a language of Asia Minor.^[3] The ⟨g⟩ was added after cognassier and to tell the word apart from coin in writing;^[6][7][4] Bloch and Wartburg date the spelling to 1718, though it is already in Rabelais.^[6]

Cognate with Italian cotogno, Old Occitan codonh and Catalan codony.^[6][8] The English quince comes from the Old French word.^[3][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest form, codoin, is in Rashi's glosses (11th century); about 1170 cooing appears in Guillaume de Berneville's Vie de saint Gilles.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word has always named the pear-shaped yellow fruit of the quince tree, eaten cooked, in jams, jellies and paste.^[2][10] Its colour gave the familiar comparison jaune comme un coing, used of a very sallow complexion, like jaune comme un citron.^[3][11][2]

The tree was first called coignier (1255), a name still used in Normandy and central France;^[6][3] coignasse (1534, later cognasse), the wild quince, gave cognassier (1558), which replaced it.^[6][3] English took the Old French word as coyn, and the plural became quince in the mid-14th century.^[9]

Timeline

• 11th century – Codoin in Rashi's glosses.^[2][3]
• c. 1170 – Cooing in Guillaume de Berneville's Vie de saint Gilles.^[2]
• 1255 – First record of coignier “quince tree”.^[6]
• 1534 – First record of coignasse.^[3][6]
• mid-14th century – English quince appears.^[9]
• 1552 – The spelling coing is recorded.^[7][10]
• 1558 – First record of coignassier, the later cognassier.^[3]
• 1718 – Coing becomes the usual spelling.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A quince, the yellow, pear-shaped fruit of the cognassier, hard and sour and eaten cooked: de la pâte de coing.^[2][10][1]
2. (familiar) Jaune comme un coing: with a very sallow complexion.^[2][10][11]

Word family

• cognasse
• cognassier

Related words

• Latin cotōneum
• English quince

Usage notes

Coing and coin are pronounced alike; the ⟨g⟩ was added to tell them apart in writing.^[6][4][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1605b
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette