lavande

Forms

lavande f (plural lavandes)^[1] First written lavende (late 13th or early 14th century); lavande from 1383.^[2][3][4] The Anglo-Norman forms are lavende, lavendre, lavender.^[5]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Italian lavanda (“lavender”),^[2][6][3][7] which first meant “act of washing” and came to name the plant because the flowers were put in bath water and used to scent freshly washed linen.^[2][6] That word comes from the neuter plural of the gerundive of Latin lavō (“to wash”), the source of laver.^[2][8][6]

The Italian etymology has a difficulty of dates: the Italian plant name is recorded only from the 16th century, while the French word appears about 1300,^[2][6] Anglo-Norman lavendre about 1265 and Medieval Latin lavendula about 1250.^[2][6] Wiktionary therefore traces the word ultimately to the Medieval Latin form, and mentions an independent dissimilation as another possibility.^[1] Etymonline suggests that the Medieval Latin word may come from Latin līvidus (“bluish”) and was later associated with the Romance words for washing.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as lavende in a manuscript of the late 13th or early 14th century, naming the plant.^[2][6] In 1383 the accounts of the French royal household record roses et lavande bought to be put with the king's linen.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word names the aromatic shrub with blue flower spikes, and its dried flowers.^[6][4] Christine de Pizan mentions a place où lavande croist in the 15th century.^[10] From 1586 it names the colour, as in drap lavande,^[2][6] and in the early 20th century the essence and perfume made from the flowers.^[6][11] Bleu lavande, a mauvish blue, is cited from Maurois in 1928.^[12]

English lavender (about 1300) comes from the Anglo-Norman form.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – Medieval Latin lavendula is recorded.^[2][6]
• c. 1265 – Anglo-Norman lavendre is recorded.^[2][6]
• c. 1300 – Lavende appears in a manuscript.^[2][6]
• 1383 – The form lavande appears in the royal household accounts.^[2]
• 1385 – Eustache Deschamps uses the word.^[11][12]
• 1586 – It names a colour: drap lavande.^[2][6]
• 1669 – The adjective lavandé appears, in gris lavendés.^[2][6]
• Early 20th century – It names lavender essence and perfume.^[6][11]
• 1928 – Bleu lavande is cited from Maurois.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. The lavender plant, an aromatic shrub of the mint family with spikes of very fragrant blue or mauve flowers, growing on dry, stony ground, as in un sachet de lavande dans le placard.^[2][4]
2. Lavender water, the essence or perfume extracted from these flowers.^[4][11]
3. (in apposition) Lavender blue, a pale bluish mauve: bleu lavande.^[4][6]

Word family

• lavandé

Related words

• laver
• Latin lavō
• English lavender

References

1. ^ a b c 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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 219b
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
12. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF