houblon

Forms

houblon m (plural houblons)^[1] Middle French houbelon, oubelon (early 15th century); houblon from 1444.^[2][3][4] Littré cites houbillon in an ordinance of 1495.^[5]

Etymology

It is from Middle French hoppe (“hopped beer”) (1391), a word of the northern dialects and of Walloon,^[2][3][6] which is from Middle Dutch hoppe (“hops, hopped beer”);^[2][3][7] compare Dutch hop.^[2] Rey says the voicing of the ⟨p⟩ is unexplained;^[3] Bloch and Wartburg compare corbeau, formed from Old French corp.^[7]

The ending is probably taken from the earlier word for hops, Old French homlon, recorded in 11th-century Judeo-French glosses and surviving in place names of the Aisne and the Somme.^[2][3][4] That word is from Frankish *humilo, also seen in Medieval Latin humulo (822) and a place name of 760;^[2][7] cognates include Old Norse humli and Flemish hommel.^[2] The Frankish word was ousted by the Dutch one, which came with improvements in brewing technique in the Low Countries and Flanders.^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg explain the Frankish loan by the Gauls' not having known the use of hops in brewing.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as houbelon in 1407 in the archives of the Nord, and as houblon in 1444 in the customs of the town of Lille, naming the plant.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its sense: the climbing plant whose cones flavour beer, and by metonymy the cones themselves.^[3][2] The Académie of 1694 described it as a plant eaten cooked in salad and grown to make beer,^[8] and Olivier de Serres (1600) mentions eating the tender shoots in spring as well as the use of its flower and seed for beer.^[5] It gave houblonnière “hop field” (1535), houblonner (1694), houblonnage (1874) and houblonnier (1873).^[3]

Timeline

• 11th century – Homlon “hops” is recorded in Judeo-French glosses.^[2][4]
• 1340 – The compound hopembier “hopped beer” appears in a northern text.^[2]
• 1391 – Hoppe “hopped beer” is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1407 – Houbelon appears in the archives of the Nord.^[2]
• 1444 – The form houblon appears in the customs of Lille.^[2][3]
• 1535 – Houblonnière is recorded.^[3]
• 1600 – Olivier de Serres writes houblon.^[4][5]
• 1694 – Houblonner is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Hop, a climbing plant (Humulus lupulus) grown in the north and east of France for its cones, used to flavour beer.^[2][9][4]
2. By metonymy, the cones of this plant, hops.^[2][3]

Word family

• houblonnière
• houblonner
• houblonnage
• houblonnier

Related words

• Dutch hop

Usage notes

The ⟨h⟩ is aspirated, so there is no elision: le houblon; the Académie noted this in 1694.^[8][10]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 226a
7. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Académie française (1694), Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie françoise, 1st ed., Paris: Coignard
9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert