hymen

hymen¹ marriage

Pronunciation

• /i.mɛn/^[1]

Forms

hymen m (plural hymens)^[1] Ronsard wrote hymene in the mid-16th century, Agrippa d'Aubigné himen at the end of it, and hymen is found in 1609.^[2]

Etymology

The word for marriage is borrowed from Latin Hymēn (“god of marriage”), which is from Ancient Greek Ὑμήν (Humḗn, “god of marriage”).^[3][4][5] In Latin it also meant a wedding song.^[6] It came into French in 1548 together with hyménée, which is hymenaeus (“wedding song, marriage”), from Ancient Greek ὑμέναιος (huménaios).^[3][7]

Rey explains that the Greek word named the ritual cry raised at weddings, and that it perhaps comes from the Greek word for “membrane” (see hymen²); if so, the cry would have been a ritual joke.^[7] Bloch and Wartburg think the anatomical word may have a separate origin from the god's name,^[6] and Littré judges the link with the membrane unlikely, citing others who connect the name with ὕμνος (húmnos, “hymn”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ronsard used Hymen in 1548 as the name of the god of marriage; the common noun “marriage” is first found before 1560 in du Bellay's translation of the Aeneid.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Like hyménée, the word belonged to classical poetry and stayed literary; today it sounds archaic or humorous.^[7] The phrase les fruits de l'hymen “the children” (1670, Racine) has gone out of use,^[7][2] and allumer le flambeau de l'hymen “to get married” is recorded from Corneille in 1640.^[2] From the end of the 17th century it was occasionally used figuratively for any association or union.^[7][2]

Timeline

• 1548 – Ronsard uses Hymen as the name of the god of marriage.^[3][7]
• before 1560 – Du Bellay uses it for “marriage”.^[3][4]
• 1640 – Allumer le flambeau de l'hymen appears in Corneille.^[2]
• 1670 – Les fruits de l'hymen “the children” appears in Racine.^[2][7]
• c. 1695 – Fénelon uses it figuratively for a union.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary, dated) Marriage, the married state: les fruits de l'hymen, the children of a marriage.^[9][3]
2. (figurative) A close union or association of two things.^[3][7]

hymen² membrane

Pronunciation

• /i.mɛn/^[1]

Forms

hymen m (plural hymens)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the membrane is borrowed from Late Latin hymēn (“membrane”), which is from Ancient Greek ὑμήν (humḗn, “membrane, thin skin”).^[4][9][7][1] Etymonline traces the Greek word to a root Proto-Indo-European *syu- (“to bind, sew”),^[10] and Littré to a stem also seen in Latin suō (“to sew”) and Ancient Greek ὕφος (húphos, “web, fabric”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi dates the anatomical word to 1520, in Falcon;^[11] the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert give about 1520.^[4][9] Ambroise Paré, in the 16th century, calls it celle tunique que l'on appelle hymen ou pannicule virginal (“the tunic called hymen or virginal membrane”).^[8]

Semantic evolution

It has stayed a term of anatomy for the membrane that partly closes the vaginal opening of a virgin.^[7][9] The same Greek word gave the learned hyménium (1816) and hyménoptères (1765), insects with membranous wings.^[7] English hymen (1610s) comes from the French word.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1520 – First recorded as an anatomical term, in Falcon.^[11][4]
• 16th century – Paré describes the membrane.^[8]
• 1610s – English borrows the word from French.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) The membrane that partly closes the vaginal opening of a virgin.^[9][1]