lichen

Forms

lichen m (plural lichens)^[1] Middle French lichine (1363), lychen (1550) and the feminine lichene used by Paré.^[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin lichen, from Ancient Greek λειχήν (leikhḗn, “leprosy, tetter, lichen”), from λείχω (leíkhō, “to lick”).^[2][6][7][1] Both the plant and the skin disease were so named in Greek because they seem to lick the surface they grow on.^[2][6][5] Rey notes that the Greek verb goes back to the same Indo-European root as French lécher.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as lichine in 1363, in Martin de Saint-Gille's French version of the Hippocratic Aphorisms, meaning an eruption on the skin.^[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The botanical sense, the plant growing on bark, walls and rocks, appears in 1546 in Rabelais's Tiers Livre;^[2][6][8] Bloch and Wartburg date the word 1545 and the GLLF finds lychen in 1550 (Guéroult).^[5][3] In the medical sense Paré, in the 16th century, wrote la lichene in the feminine;^[5][4] the masculine is recorded in this sense in 1834.^[3]

The skin-disease sense lives on in modern dermatology in a narrower use, as in lichen plan.^[6][8] The botanical sense gave the learned adjectives of the 19th century, such as lichénoïde (1823), lichénique (1846) and lichéneux (1861); lichénification (1900) is the only derivative from the medical sense.^[6] English lichen was taken from Latin in 1715.^[9]

Timeline

• 1363 – Lichine “skin eruption” in Martin de Saint-Gille.^[2][6]
• 1546 – Rabelais uses lichen for the plant.^[2][8]
• 1550 – Guéroult writes lychen.^[3]
• 16th century – Paré writes la lichene for the skin disease.^[5][4]
• 1823 – Lichénoïde is recorded.^[6]
• 1900 – Lichénification appears in dermatology.^[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) A lichen, a hardy organism formed by a fungus and an alga living in symbiosis, growing on rocks, trees and poor soils.^[8][3][2]
2. (medicine) A skin disease marked by papules: lichen plan.^[8][3]

Word family

• lichénique
• lichénification

Related words

• lécher
• Latin lichen
• Ancient Greek λειχήν (leikhḗn)

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com