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poireau

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Etymology and origin of the French word poireau

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1100 late 11th century, Rashi's glosses More words from the 11th century
Ultimate origin
Latin porrum
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin porrum
Italian porro
Romanian por
Romanian pur
Spanish puerro
French poireau

Pronunciation

Forms

poireau m (plural poireaux)[1] Old French porel (late 11th century), poriau (1273), poiriaus (1260), Middle French porreau (1487).[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French porel, formed from Old French por + -el, from the rare Old French word for the leek, from Latin porrum (“leek”).[2][5][6][7] The vowel of the modern form arose first around Paris, probably under the influence of poire, while porreau lives on in provincial speech.[2][5][6]

Rey thinks the Latin word, which also passed into Germanic as Old High German pforro, is probably a Mediterranean word taken independently into Latin and Greek, as in Ancient Greek πράσον (práson).[6] Cognate with Italian porro and Spanish puerro[5]; compare Norman pouothé and Walloon porea.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The plural porels may already appear in Rashi's French glosses in the late 11th century.[2][4] The form with oi, poiriauz, is in Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers (1260).[2][6]

Semantic evolution

By likeness of shape the leek gave its name to fleshy growths: a wart on the feet of birds (15th century) and a wart (1487, porreau), a popular use.[2][6]

In 19th-century slang planter son poireau “to wait” (1866, Delvau) was followed by faire le poireau (1877, Zola),[2] a metaphor of being planted in one spot like the vegetable,[6] which gave the verb poireauter (1880).[6] Guiraud instead linked it with poireau “wart”, used jokingly for a watchman.[6] The word also meant the penis (1867).[6] Since 1912 it has also named the ribbon of the Mérite agricole.[8]

Timeline

  • Late 11th century – Porels in Rashi's glosses.[2][4]
  • c. 1225 – The simple Old French por is recorded.[2]
  • 1260 – Poiriauz in Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers.[2][6]
  • 1487 – Porreau means a wart.[2][6]
  • 1866 – Delvau records planter son poireau “to wait”.[2]
  • 1867 – Slang use for the penis.[6]
  • 1877 – Zola writes faire le poireau.[2][6]
  • 1880 – The verb poireauter appears.[6]
  • 1912 – Slang name for the Mérite agricole.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The leek, Allium porrum, a garden plant grown for its stem, eaten as a vegetable.[9][2][1]
  2. (familiar, dated) A wart (verrue).[9][6]
  3. Faire le poireau, rester planté comme un poireau: to be kept waiting a long time.[9][6]
  4. (familiar) A person who is kept waiting.[9]
  5. (slang) The penis.[1][6]
  6. (slang) The decoration of the Mérite agricole.[8]

Word family

  • poireauter
  • poireautage

Usage notes

Anatole France called the leek l'asperge du pauvre, “the poor man's asparagus”.[2][6] Littré still entered the word under the form porreau.[10][3]

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 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
  3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  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 i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique 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. 9, 195a
  8. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Poireau.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/poireau. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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