paprika

Forms

paprika m (plural paprikas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Hungarian paprika (“red pepper”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The Hungarian word comes from Serbo-Croatian papar (“pepper”), which goes back to the same root as French poivre.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

French first borrowed the word in the old sense “pepper soup”: the TLFi records it from 1832, in Raymond's dictionary,^[2] while Bloch and Wartburg, the GLLF and the Grand Robert give 1836, the GLLF and Grand Robert in the Académie's dictionary.^[3][5][6] The Grand Robert gives that form as papriko.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The modern sense, a mild red pepper ground into powder and used as a spice, is found from 1922, in Paul Morand's Ouvert la nuit.^[2][5][4] The English word paprika is older in this sense, recorded from 1896 according to the DHLF, or from 1898 according to the TLFi.^[4][2] The word evokes Hungarian and Central European cooking, as in goulash.^[4][2]

Timeline

• 1832 – Raymond's dictionary records the word in the sense “pepper soup”.^[2]
• 1836 – The Académie's dictionary has it in the same sense.^[5][3]
• 1922 – Paul Morand uses it for the ground spice.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Paprika, a mild Hungarian red pepper ground into a powder and used as a condiment, especially in Hungarian cooking: du paprika doux.^[7][2][5]
2. (dated) A pepper soup.^[2][3]

Related words

• poivre

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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert