genièvre

Forms

genièvre m (plural genièvres)^[1] Judeo-French jenevre (late 11th century); Old French geneivre (about 1160), genoivre (about 1175), Middle French genevre (14th century); genièvre from 1377.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French geneivre, inherited from Vulgar Latin *jeniperus, an altered form of Latin iūniperus (“juniper”).^[4][2][5][6] The altered form is recorded in Late Latin and the glosses as ziniperus, giniperus and geniperus (about 800).^[4][2][5] The DEAF, after Brüch, explains the change from ⟨ju-⟩ to ⟨je-⟩ by palatalization of the unstressed vowel next to the ⟨j⟩, followed by dissimilation from the stressed /i/.^[4]

The diphthong ⟨iè⟩ probably replaced ⟨oi⟩ by analogy with pairs such as lévrier / lièvre, starting from the derivative genévrier.^[5][4][2]

Littré lists the cognates Old Occitan genibre, Catalan ginebre, Spanish enebro, Portuguese zimbro and Italian ginepro.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest form, Judeo-French jenevre, is in Rashi's glosses (late 11th century), for both the juniper and its berry; about 1165 Benoît de Sainte-Maure has geneivre in the Roman de Troie.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The word first named the juniper bush, which is now usually called genévrier, genièvre surviving as a regional name for it.^[2][8] Above all it names the aromatic berry (1256, genoivre, in Aldebrandin of Siena), used in cooking, notably with sauerkraut.^[4][2][8]

From eau-de-vie de genièvre (1703) came the sense of a grain spirit flavoured with juniper berries, like English gin, recorded by the Académie in 1835.^[9][2]

Timeline

• late 11th century – Judeo-French jenevre in Rashi's glosses.^[4][2]
• c. 1165 – Geneivre in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie.^[4]
• c. 1175 – Genoivre in Chrétien de Troyes.^[9]
• 1256 – Aldebrandin of Siena uses genoivre for the berry.^[4][9]
• 1372 – First record of the derivative genévrier.^[5]
• 1377 – The form genievre appears in Gace de la Buigne.^[4]
• 1584 – Ronsard uses genièvre.^[5]
• 1703 – Eau-de-vie de genièvre is recorded.^[9]
• 1835 – The Académie records the spirit.^[9][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional) The common juniper, genévrier.^[8][4][2]
2. A juniper berry, used as a spice: du chou au genièvre.^[8][4]
3. Jenever, a grain spirit distilled with juniper berries.^[8][9][1]

Word family

• genévrier
• genièvrerie

Related words

• gin
• Latin iūniperus

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 74b
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse