Etymologically
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pomme

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Pronunciation

Forms

pomme f (plural pommes)[1] Old French pume (1080), pome (about 1155); pomme from 1273 (Adenet).[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pome, inherited from Late Latin pōma, the neuter plural of classical pōmum (“fruit”) taken as a feminine singular with collective value;[5][2][6][3][7] the same process gave pêche, poire and prune.[5][2] The Latin noun named the fruit of any tree, stone fruit or pip fruit; it is probably a borrowing from an unknown language.[2] From the early 5th century (Marcellus Empiricus) it took the special sense “apple” in Gaul, northern Italy and most of Spain, replacing the classical name of the apple, mālum.[2][6][3] The masculine noun itself gave Old French pon “pommel of a sword” (1080), whence pommeau.[5][2]

Compare Catalan poma, Portuguese pomo and Old Occitan pom “apple”, beside Romanian poamă and Italian pomo, which keep the sense “fruit”.[8][2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) Roland holds a red apple as a symbol of the crowns he will win for Charlemagne: En sa main tint une vermeille pume.[5][9]

Semantic evolution

From the 13th century it was used, with a qualifier, for other plant products shaped like an apple: pume de pin “pine cone” (about 1200), poume de paradis “banana” (about 1256), pome grenate “pomegranate”, pomme d'amour “tomato” (Robert Estienne, 1549), and pomme de terre (1655); several gave way to shorter names.[5][2][6] The Ménagier de Paris (about 1393) uses it for the heart of a cabbage, and Robert Grosseteste (first half of the 13th century) for the forbidden fruit of Eden.[5]

Familiar phrases include aux pommes “splendid” (Delvau, 1867), tomber dans les pommes “to faint” (1889) and haut comme trois pommes (Colette, 1910).[4] Pomme alone for a potato is a restaurant ellipsis of pomme de terre (1834, steak pommes frites).[10][3][11]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Pume, Chanson de Roland.[5]
  • c. 1155 – Pome, Wace.[4]
  • c. 1200 – Pume de pin.[5]
  • c. 1256 – Poume de paradis “banana”.[5]
  • 1273 – Pomme, Adenet.[4]
  • c. 1393 – Heart of a cabbage.[5]
  • 1549 – Pomme d'amour “tomato”.[5]
  • 1655 – Pomme de terre.[6]
  • 1834 – Pomme for a potato.[10]
  • 1889 – Tomber dans les pommes.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An apple: pomme à couteau, pomme à cuire, pomme à cidre, tarte aux pommes.[10][1]
  2. An object shaped like an apple: pomme de pin, pine cone, pomme d'arrosoir, the rose of a watering can, pomme de douche.[10][1]
  3. The heart of a cabbage or lettuce.[5][1]
  4. Pomme d'Adam: Adam's apple, pomme de discorde, bone of contention.[10][1]
  5. (cooking) A potato: pommes frites, pommes vapeur.[10][1]
  6. (familiar) The head, the face, ma pomme, me, yours truly.[1][10]
  7. (familiar) A simpleton, ninny.[1]
  8. (familiar) Tomber dans les pommes: to faint.[4][10]

Word family

  • pommier
  • pommeraie
  • pommette
  • pommelé
  • pommer
  • pomme de terre
  • pommeau
  • pommade

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f 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 i j k l 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
  6. ^ a b c d e 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. 9, 152b
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF