ortie

Forms

ortie f (plural orties)^[1] Old French orthie;^[2][3] Anglo-Norman urtie, hortie and urtil.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French orthie, inherited from Latin urtīca (“nettle”).^[2][4][5][6] The Romance forms suppose a short /u/ in the Latin word, a plant name of uncertain origin that the Romans linked by folk etymology with ūrō (“to burn”).^[6] Littré took that link as real.^[7]

Cognate with Italian ortica, Occitan ortiga, Catalan ortiga, Spanish ortiga and Romanian urzică.^[8][5][7] The dialects of France have Picard ortile, Walloon ourtèie;^[7] the eastern dialects use other words.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as orthie in the Voyage de saint Brendan (early 12th century), naming the nettle.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The nettle early became a symbol of what is bad, set against the rose: Gautier d'Arras writes in Éracle (1176–84) Cil prent l'ortie, et cil la rose, “one takes the nettle, and one the rose”.^[2][6][7] The proverbial jeter le froc aux orties “to throw the frock into the nettles”, that is to leave the religious life, is found as gecter le froc es ortyes in 1496 and in its modern form in 1564; it came to mean giving up any undertaking.^[6][2][7]

Names for other plants followed: red nettle in the 14th century (earlier rouge ortie), ortie blanche “white dead-nettle” in 1530 and ortie bleue in 1868.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1112 – Orthie appears in the Voyage de saint Brendan.^[2][6]
• 1176–1184 – Gautier d'Arras sets the nettle against the rose.^[2]
• c. 1270 – The verb ortier “to sting with nettles” is recorded.^[6]
• 1496 – Gecter le froc es ortyes appears in the Mystère de saint Martin.^[2]
• 1530 – Palsgrave records ortie blanche.^[9]
• 1564 – Thierry records jetter le froc aux orties.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A nettle, a herbaceous plant whose leaves bear fine hairs containing an irritant liquid.^[10][2]
2. Ortie blanche: the white dead-nettle, a plant like the nettle that does not sting.^[10][9]
3. Jeter le froc aux orties: to give up the religious life, and by extension any calling or undertaking.^[9][7][6]

Word family

• ortier

Related words

• urticant
• Latin urtica

Usage notes

The familiar phrase faut pas pousser grand-mère dans les orties means “there is no need to exaggerate”.^[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 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 Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 66b
5. ^ a b c 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert