gui

gui¹ mistletoe

Etymology tree of gui¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin vīscum

French gui

Romanian vâsc

From the same root · gui¹

Latin visco ← vīscum

Latin viscōsus ← vīscum

Romanian vâscos ← vâsc

Pronunciation

• /ɡi/^[1]

Forms

gui m (plural guis)^[1] Old and Middle French visc, vist and viz (late 14th century), then guy and guix.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

The word for mistletoe is inherited from Middle French guy, inherited from Latin viscum (“mistletoe, birdlime”),^[2][5][6][3] like Old Occitan vesc (12th–14th centuries).^[2][6] The forms with /i/ (visc, vist, viz) are probably due to the influence of the descendants of hibiscus (compare guimauve).^[2][6] The initial ⟨g⟩ for ⟨v⟩ is put down to Frankish *wīhsila (“wild cherry”), whose fruit looks somewhat like the mistletoe berry (compare guigne).^[2][6][3][1] Bloch and Wartburg add that the Latin and the Frankish word go back to the same Indo-European root;^[3] Rey suggests that the Latin word may be related to Ancient Greek ἰξός (ixós, “birdlime”).^[6]

Cognate with Italian vischio and Italian visco.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Guy de chesne “oak mistletoe” is found in 1372 in an account of the will of Queen Jeanne d'Évreux; a guy with two silver rings in a text of 1347 may be the same word, but its sense is doubtful.^[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Besides the plant, the word carries the symbolism of the New Year, in the cry au gui l'an neuf, and calls up the religious customs of ancient Gaul and its druids, a theme taken up by Chateaubriand and the Romantics.^[6][4] Its berries were used to make a glu of lower quality than that made from holly bark.^[4]

Timeline

• 1347 – Guy, in a sense that is uncertain, appears in a Norman text.^[2][6]
• 1372 – Guy de chesne “oak mistletoe” is recorded.^[2]
• late 14th century – The Livres du roy Modus use vist and viz.^[2][4]
• 15th century – Guix de chesne is recorded.^[4]
• 1879 – The derivative guiage “removal of mistletoe” appears.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Mistletoe, a parasitic evergreen plant with white berries that grows on the branches of some trees.^[2][8][9]
2. Au gui l'an neuf: a New Year's greeting linking mistletoe with the start of the year.^[8][4]

gui² boom

Pronunciation

• /ɡi/^[1]

Forms

gui m (plural guis)^[1] First written guy.^[7][8]

Etymology

The word for the boom of a sail is borrowed from Dutch giek, also written gijk, and is first recorded in 1687.^[6][7][8][1] Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1694,^[3] the GLLF to 1694 in Thomas Corneille.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1687, spelt guy, as a sailing term.^[7][8][6]

Timeline

• 1687 – First record, as guy.^[7][8][6]
• 1694 – Thomas Corneille records it.^[10][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (nautical) A strong rounded spar, the boom along which the foot of a gaff sail is laced; also called bôme.^{[8][11][9][4]}