conifère

Forms

conifère (plural conifères)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōnifer (“cone-bearing”), said of certain trees.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The Latin word is formed from cōnus (“cone”) and -fer (“bearing”), from ferō (“to carry”).^[3][4][6][7] The noun follows the scientific name Coniferae of A. de Jussieu (1789).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1523, in J. de Mortières's translation of the Parthenice Mariane, as an adjective meaning “bearing cone-shaped fruit”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective was a botanical term for plants whose fruits have the shape of a cône.^[2][7] As a noun it named these trees from 1789 (Jussieu); Wailly's dictionary of 1809 has the plural conifères for the botanical group.^[2][4][6] Rey notes that the word spread beyond botany into everyday use, because the trees concerned, pines, firs and the like, are easy to recognise by their evergreen leaves, even though their cones have common names of their own such as pomme de pin.^[4]

Timeline

• 1523 – First recorded as an adjective.^[2][3][4]
• 1789 – A. de Jussieu uses the noun for the group of trees.^[2][4]
• 1809 – Wailly records conifères as a plural noun.^[6][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A conifer, a gymnosperm tree with needle-like or scale-like leaves, female cones and resinous sap, such as the pin, the sapin or the cèdre;^[8][2] les conifères are the order as a whole.^[8][2]

Adjective

1. (botany) Bearing cone-shaped fruits.^[2][7][6]

Related words

• cône
• Latin cōnifer

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1126a
6. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert