pétale

Forms

pétale m (plural pétales)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin petalum, a word of the botanists' Latin first found in a work of Fabio Colonna printed in Rome in 1649,^[2][3][4] which is from Ancient Greek πέταλον (pétalon, “leaf of a plant, flower or tree”).^[2][3][5] The Greek noun, which also meant a thin plate of metal, is the neuter of the adjective πέταλος (pétalos, “spread out, flat”).^[3][1] Rey traces it to an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *pet- (“to spread out”), also seen in patent.^[3] Littré compares πετάννυμι (petánnumi, “to spread out”) and Latin patulus (“open, spread out”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1718 in A. de Jussieu's Discours sur les progrès de la botanique, in its botanical sense.^[2][3][7] According to Richelet, cited by Littré, Colonna had used the Latin word to tell the leaves of a flower from leaves proper.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Apart from its botanical sense, one of the leaf-like parts of the corolla, the word is used in metaphors and, by likeness of shape, in cooking for a thin flake, especially of maize: pétales de maïs (about 1965), which competes with the English loan cornflakes.^[3][7][8] The Petit Robert also records col pétale, a collar of rounded pieces of cloth arranged like a corolla.^[9]

It has given the learned adjectives pétaloïde (1763–1765, Rousseau) and pétalé (1771), and apétale “without petals”.^[3]

Timeline

• 1649 – Fabio Colonna uses Latin petalum in a book printed in Rome.^[2][6]
• 1718 – First French record, in Jussieu.^[2][4]
• 1763–1765 – Rousseau uses pétaloïde.^[3]
• 1771 – Pétalé is recorded.^[3]
• c. 1965 – Pétales de maïs appears.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) A petal, each of the leaf-like, usually coloured parts that make up the corolla of a flower.^[2][9][10]
2. Pétales de maïs: cornflakes.^[8][10][7]
3. Col pétale: a collar of rounded pieces of fabric arranged like a corolla.^[9]

Related words

• apétale
• Ancient Greek πέταλον (pétalon)

Usage notes

The word is always masculine: un pétale.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)