courge

Forms

courge f (plural courges)^[1] Middle French cohourge (about 1380) and courge (late 14th century).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle French cohourge, a western dialect form, inherited from Late Latin *cucurbica, an alteration of Latin cucurbita (“gourd”) with the suffix ⟨-ica⟩ in place of ⟨-ita⟩.^{[4][3][5][2][6]} Rey notes the same reduplicated first syllable in Latin words of related meaning, such as cucumis (“cucumber”).^[4]

The Classical Latin word itself gave Old French coorde, cohourde (1246), which survives in many dialects and is the source of gourde¹.^[4][3][5][1] With the suffix ⟨-ula⟩ it gave Old Occitan cogorla and the old French courle used by Rabelais.^[3][4] Cognate with cogorda, the source of the southeastern cougourde, and Romanian cucurbetă.^[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the second half of the 14th century, in Honoré Bonet's Apparicion de Jean de Meun, for the gourd plant and its fruit.^[5][8]

Semantic evolution

The plant name is commonly used for the fruit of some varieties eaten as a vegetable.^[4][9] In northern French dialects the dominant word is citrouille instead.^[4][3] Familiarly courge means a fool, said to refer to the hollow inside of the fruit.^[4][9]

The derivative courgette (1929, first in Burgundy) quickly became the everyday word, as the young fruit is used in cooking more than the grown squash.^[4] The learned botanical term cucurbitacées (1721) was formed on the Latin stem.^[4]

Timeline

• 1350–1400 – Courge appears in Honoré Bonet.^[5]
• c. 1380 – Conty writes cohourge.^[2]
• 1721 – The learned cucurbitacées is formed.^[4]
• 1852 – The Swiss regional courgeron “small squash” is recorded.^[5][4]
• 1929 – Courgette appears, first in Burgundy.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A squash or gourd, a plant of the gourd family grown for its fruit.^[9][5][2]
2. The fruit of this plant, eaten as a vegetable; a marrow: une soupe de courge.^[9][2][1]
3. (familiar) A fool, an idiot: quelle courge !^[9][4]

Word family

• courgette
• courgeron

Related words

• gourde¹
• cougourde
• citrouille
• Latin cucurbita

Usage notes

Boire comme un plant de courge means to drink a great deal.^[5] The Grand Robert also has a regional and technical courge (late 11th century, corge): a curved pole for carrying two buckets on the shoulder, probably from Old French corjon “strap”, from Latin corrigia.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e 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 g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1460a
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert