ginseng

Forms

ginseng m (usually uncountable, plural ginsengs)^[1] Also written jin-seng in the 19th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Chinese 人參 (rénshēn), a compound of 人 (rén, “man”) and 參 (shēn, “plant”), so called because the root of the plant was thought to look somewhat like a human body.^[4][2][5][6] Rey compares the same idea in the case of the mandragore.^[2] English Wiktionary traces the word to the Hokkien pronunciation of the same characters.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is from 1663, in a Relation de la Cour du Mogol, where it names the Far Eastern plant.^[4] The BHVF gives Thévenot as the source of this 1663 record.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word named the plant, and by metonymy its root and the drug made from it.^[2][4] Western writers long repeated the Chinese esteem for the root: the Académie in 1798 lists its supposed powers to revive the vital spirits and restore strength, while adding that experience in Europe had not confirmed them.^[8] Littré, who describes it as a tonic and stimulant root growing in Tartary and Canada, calls it the cure-all of the Chinese.^[9]

The spelling jin-seng appears in the account of the missionary Huc, dated 1844 by the Robert dictionaries and 1850 by Rey.^[3][10][2] A form guiseng is found in a humorous paper of 1892 that calls the root a kind of universal panacea.^[7]

Timeline

• 1663 – First recorded in a Relation de la Cour du Mogol.^[4][7]
• 1798 – The Académie dictionary describes the plant and its reputed virtues.^[8]
• 1844 – The spelling jin-seng is used by Huc.^[3][10]
• 1873 – Littré records the plant and its root and gives the pronunciation “jin-san”.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Ginseng, a plant of eastern Asia (genus Panax, family Araliaceae) with a thick root.^[10][4][11]
2. The root of this plant, valued as a tonic, and the preparations made from it: une tisane au ginseng.^[10][12][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 20, 97a
7. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ a b Académie française (1798), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 5th ed., Paris: Smits
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
12. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
13. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)