grenade

Forms

grenade f (plural grenades)^[1] Old French pume grenate, also pume grenade and greneite;^[2][3] grenade without pomme is found from the 15th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Lombard pom granat (“pomegranate”), from the dialects of northern Italy, first used in the phrase pume grenate and then on its own.^[4][5][2] Compare Piedmontese pum graná.^[4] In these dialects the word for “apple” in the expression was replaced, and it goes back to Latin mālum grānātum (“pomegranate”), literally “apple with grains”, from grānātum, derived from grānum (“grain, seed”).^[4][5][6][7] In Latin mālum named any fruit with pips or a stone.^[5] The French form was adapted to the native base ⟨gre-⟩,^[5] and Wiktionary puts the ⟨d⟩ down to the influence of Spanish granada.^[1]

The weapon was named after the fruit, for the likeness of shape.^[4][5][8] The English word grenade was taken from French, first for the fruit in the 1520s and for the explosive shell in the 1590s.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1165 as pume grenate in Chrétien de Troyes' Guillaume d'Angleterre, meaning the pomegranate;^[4] grenate alone is found about 1314 in Henri de Mondeville's Chirurgie.^[4]

Semantic evolution

For three centuries the word was used with pomme in front of it, as in the 13th-century puns de grenat quoted by Littré;^[6][2] grenade alone is the usual name of the fruit from the 15th century.^[2][3] The tree was first pommier grenat, replaced by grenadier (1425).^[5][2]

From the shape of the fruit, the name passed into military language in the 16th century for a small explosive projectile thrown by hand: Bloch and Wartburg and the Petit Robert date this sense to 1520, the TLFi to 1558, in Philippe de Clèves' treatise on war.^[2][8][4] Later it was also fired from a gun.^[5] The weapon gave grenadier “soldier who throws grenades” (1667),^[2] and the fruit gave grenadine, the syrup made from its juice (1866).^[2][5]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – Pume grenate appears in Chrétien de Troyes' Guillaume d'Angleterre.^[4]
• c. 1314 – Grenate alone is used in Henri de Mondeville's Chirurgie.^[4]
• 15th century – Grenade without pomme becomes the name of the fruit.^[2][3]
• 1520 – First record of the sense “explosive projectile”, according to Bloch and Wartburg and the Petit Robert.^[2][8]
• 1520s – English borrows grenade for the pomegranate.^[9]
• 1558 – Philippe de Clèves uses it for the projectile, the TLFi's first date.^[4]
• 1590s – English grenade takes the sense “small explosive shell”.^[9]
• 1667 – The derivative grenadier names a soldier who throws grenades.^[2]
• 1866 – Grenadine is recorded for pomegranate juice used for syrup.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pomegranate, the round fruit of the pomegranate tree, full of seeds in a red pulp;^[8][4][10] sirop de grenade is pomegranate syrup.^[8][4][10]
2. (military) A grenade, a small explosive projectile thrown by hand or fired from a rifle: grenade à main, grenade lacrymogène (tear-gas grenade).^[8][10][4]
3. A synonym of grenadine.^[11]
4. (heraldry) A pomegranate as a charge.^[1]

Word family

• grenadier
• grenadine
• lance-grenades

Related words

• grain
• Latin grānātum
• English grenade

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
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 f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 236a
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)