panais

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pa.nɛ/^[1]

Forms

panais m (invariable)^[1] Old French feminine pasnaie; masculine panaiz (1549), panais (1561–1562); also panets.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pasnaie, inherited from Latin pastināca (“parsnip, carrot”),^{[2][5][6][3][1][7]} a name of several umbellifers, which Rey and the Petit Robert derive, perhaps, from pastinum (“dibble, two-pronged hoe”), by likeness of shape.^[5][8] The modern masculine form arose from the plural, the usual form for vegetables, and the change of form brought the change of gender.^[2][6][5] Littré's derivation from Greek “panax” is not supported by the others.^[9][2]

pastenague “stingray” is a learned doublet.^[1][5] Old Occitan pastenaga gave French “pastenade”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Proverbe au vilain (about 1180) has pasnaie.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The word kept the Latin sense.^[5] Highly valued from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, the parsnip later came to be seen as a poor man's food, and panais was used of a worthless, outdated object; it returned to favour with traditional vegetables in the 1980s and 1990s.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1180 – Pasnaie.^[2][5]
• 1549 – Panaiz (Estienne).^[2][3]
• 1561 – Panais.^[2]
• 1798 – The Académie keeps only panais.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A parsnip, the plant and its edible root.^[8][1]

Related words

• pastenague
• English parsnip

Usage notes

A different, popular panais or panet “shirt-tail” (1876), with en panais “in one's shirt”, comes from pan “flap”.^[3][2][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 752b
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette