persil

Forms

persil m (countable and uncountable, plural persils)^[1] Old French perresil, peresil, Middle French perrecil and pierresill; the shorter persil is found from the 13th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French perresil, inherited from Vulgar Latin *petrosīlium, an alteration of Latin petroselīnum (“parsley”).^[4][5][6][7] The Latin word was taken from Ancient Greek πετροσέλινον (petrosélinon), formed of πέτρα (pétra, “rock”) and σέλινον (sélinon, “celery, parsley”), properly meaning rock parsley.^[2][1] In popular speech the Latin word was contracted to Vulgar Latin *petrosīnum, which gave Old French persin, still alive in the dialects of the North, the East and Normandy; its ending was then taken for a suffix and replaced by -ilium, as Old Occitan peiresilh also shows.^[3][2][4] A form petrosilio is found in the 9th century.^[3][2] The Old French word had a palatal ⟨l⟩.^[4]

Cognate with Italian prezzemolo.^[8] céleri comes from the same Greek noun for celery.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as perresil in a 12th-century glossary from Tours, naming the parsley plant.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The plant was valued in antiquity for its healing properties, but only at the end of the Middle Ages did it pass from the apothecary's shop to the table.^[2] Qualified, the word named other plants, as persil de marais (1606).^[3][2]

In 19th-century slang it took on several popular senses: prostitution (1840), with faire son persil and aller au persil “to accost passers-by”, of obscure origin;^[3][2] avoir du persil “to have spice” (Huysmans, 1876);^[2] and, by likeness of shape, the hair (1888) and the moustache (1901).^[3] The older phrase grêler sur le persil (16th century, Rabelais), to use one's power on the weak or on trifles, has died out.^[2][8]

Timeline

• 12th century – Perresil appears in a glossary from Tours.^[3]
• 1328 – The form persil is used in the Plantaire.^[3]
• 16th century – Rabelais uses grêler sur le persil.^[2]
• 1606 – Crespin records persil de marais.^[3]
• 1690 – The derivative persillade appears.^[4]
• 1694 – Persillé and persiller are recorded.^[2]
• 1840 – The slang sense “prostitution” and faire son persil are recorded.^[3]
• 1888 – Villatte records the slang sense “hair”.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. parsley, an aromatic umbellifer used as a seasoning and garnish: persil plat, persil frisé.^[6][3]
2. Persil arabe: coriander.^[6]
3. (slang, dated) The hair, or the moustache.^[3][5]
4. (slang, dated) Street prostitution, in faire son persil and aller au persil.^[3][2]

Word family

• persillade
• persillé
• persiller
• persillère

Related words

• céleri
• pierre
• Latin petroselīnum

Usage notes

Littré gives the pronunciation without the final /l/, which is never sounded or carried over in liaison; the Petit Robert has the same, while Wiktionary also gives /pɛʁ.sil/.^[8][6][1]

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 k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 325b
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette