pouliot

Forms

pouliot m (plural pouliots)^[1] Old French poliol (late 11th century), puliel (12th century) and puliol (late 12th century); Middle French polliot (1437–1442) and poulliot (Palsgrave, 1530).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French poliol, altered by a change of suffix to -ot.^[2][4][5][6] The Old French word was formed with the suffix -ol from a reflex of Vulgar Latin *pŭleium, with a short vowel, beside the classical Latin pūleium (“pennyroyal”) with a long one.^[2][4][7] Rey notes that the Latin word spread over the whole Romance area except Romanian, and into Germanic, and that its origin is unknown.^[4] Littré derived it from Latin pūlex (“flea”), as a herb that drives away fleas,^[8] an explanation the modern dictionaries do not repeat.^[4]

Cognate with Italian poleggio, Spanish poleo, Portuguese poejo and Old Occitan pulegi.^[5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest form, poliol, is found in Rashi's French glosses at the end of the 11th century, naming the plant.^[2][3] A 12th-century glossary from Tours glosses Latin pulegium as puliel.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word has always named the same aromatic mint as its Latin source, used in infusions as a stimulant and antispasmodic.^[4][2] The suffix -ot replaced -ol in the 15th century: Antoine de La Sale wrote polliot in 1437–1442, and the modern spelling appears in the late 15th-century edition of Taillevent's Viandier.^[2] In the 16th century Rémy Belleau named it beside thyme among the scents of the fields.^[8]

Timeline

• 1000s – Poliol appears in Rashi's glosses (late 11th century).^[2]
• 12th century – The form puliel is found in a glossary from Tours.^[2]
• 1437–1442 – Antoine de La Sale writes polliot.^[2][3]
• 15th century – Pouliot appears in an edition of Taillevent's Viandier.^[2]
• 1538 – Robert Estienne records pouliot.^[3][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. pennyroyal, Mentha pulegium, a strong-smelling mint used as a stimulant and antispasmodic, and sometimes as a seasoning.^[2][9][3]

Related words

• serpolet
• Latin pūleium

Usage notes

A separate word pouliot, derived from poulie “pulley”, named the sheave of a pulley (1382) and now a small winch at the back of a cart on which the rope holding the load is wound (1877).^[2][3][9]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 521b
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert