herbe

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɛʁb/^[1]
• IPA (Canada): /aɛ̯ʁb/^[1]
• IPA (Louisiana): /æb/^[1]

Forms

herbe f (plural herbes)^[1] Old French erbe, herbe from the 13th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin herba (“grass; weeds; young shoot, especially of grain; plant”).^{[4][5][3][6][7]} Rey calls the Latin word a pre-Latin rural term of unknown origin, the Petit Robert an obscure one, Wiktionary connects it with Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- (“to grow, become green”).^[5][8][1] Latin already named many plants with “herba” and a qualifier, as “herba Proserpinae” “camomile”.^[4]

Cognate with Romanian iarbă, Italian erba, Occitan èrba, Catalan herba, Spanish hierba and Portuguese erva.^[8][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it is both a plant with a soft stem, De tantes herbes el pré truvat les flors “he found the flowers of so many plants in the meadow”, and, collectively, grass: Sur l'erbe verte estut devant sun tref “he stood on the green grass before his tent”.^[4][9]

Semantic evolution

In the Roman d'Eneas (about 1160) it is a medicinal plant, male herbe (13th century), then mauvaise herbe (1316), is a useless weed, and, from Molière (1668) a good-for-nothing person.^[4][5][2] Joinville (1306) uses herbes for seasoning, and fines herbes appears in 1540.^[4] Countless plant names are formed with it from the 13th century, often with a saint's name or a use, such as herbe-aux-chats (1547).^[4][5]

En herbe was said of green, unripe grain in the Roman de la Rose (1225–1230), and figuratively of young people with promise, couper l'herbe sous le pied de qqn “to cut the ground from under someone's feet” is in Jacques Yver (1572).^[4][5] In colloquial use l'herbe is cannabis.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Erbe, Chanson de Roland.^[4]
• c. 1160 – A medicinal herb, Roman d'Eneas.^[4]
• 1225–1230 – En herbe, of grain, Roman de la Rose.^[4]
• 1316 – Mauvaises herbes.^[4]
• 1540 – Fines herbes.^[4]
• 1572 – Couper l'herbe sous le pied de qqn.^[4]
• 1668 – Mauvaise herbe of a person, Molière.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) A herbaceous plant, one without a woody stem.^[8][4]
2. grass: couper l'herbe, s'asseoir dans l'herbe.^[8][1]
3. A plant used in medicine or cooking: herbes médicinales, fines herbes, culinary herbs.^[8][4]
4. Mauvaise herbe: a weed, (figurative) a good-for-nothing.^[4][2]
5. En herbe: green, unripe (of grain); (figurative) budding: un artiste en herbe.^[4][5]
6. Couper l'herbe sous le pied à qqn: to cut the ground from under someone's feet.^[4][2]
7. (colloquial) cannabis.^[1]

Word family

• herbage
• herbette
• herbier
• herbu
• désherber
• herbicide

Related words

• herbacé
• herber
• herbeux
• herboriste
• Latin herba

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 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 n o p q r 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 404a
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette