purée

Forms

purée f (plural purées)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French puree, the feminine past participle used as a noun from Old French purer (“to purify, clean, sift”).^[2][3][4][1] The verb is from Late Latin pūrō (“to purify”), from pūrus (“pure”).^[2][3][4][1] It also meant to press fruit or vegetables to extract their pulp (1314), a sense that survived in the dialects of the Centre.^[2][4] The verb was later replaced by purifier, but another derivative of it, purin, lives on.^[3]

Littré reports Scheler's view that the word is porée “leek broth”, but objects that old texts always have ⟨purée⟩ for peas and grape juice.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Around 1220 Gautier de Coinci speaks of li pois de la puree, a dish of mashed and strained pulse.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

At the end of the 14th century Eustache Deschamps used purée jokingly for wine, as in purée de Bourgoigne;^[2][3][5] Rabelais's purée septembrale (1534) and purée de septembre (1611) kept the jest alive.^[2][3][5] In cooking, purées of peas, onions, carrots and other vegetables are common, but potato purée became so usual that purée alone took that sense (1891).^[3][2] The figurative purée de pois “very thick fog” (1896) adapts the English pea-soup.^[2][3]

From 1878 the word was used for poverty, especially in être dans la purée, in the same way as panade; it was used as an adjective for what shows want (1895) and as an interjection, purée ! (1895, Anatole France).^[2][3] The interjection was common in the French of North Africa and spread in France after the return of the French of Algeria.^[3] Bloch and Wartburg derive the popular purotin “penniless man” from this sense.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1220 – Gautier de Coinci uses puree for a dish of mashed peas.^[2]
• late 14th century – Eustache Deschamps uses it for wine.^[2][5]
• 1534 – Rabelais writes purée septembrale.^[2][3]
• 1878 – Être dans la purée “to be broke” is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1891 – Purée alone means mashed potatoes.^[2][3]
• 1895 – It is used as an interjection and an adjective.^[3][2]
• 1896 – Purée de pois “thick fog” appears.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A puree, a dish of cooked vegetables or fruit, mashed or strained: une purée de navets.^[7][8][9]
2. (used alone) Mashed potato: du poulet avec de la purée.^[7][8][9]
3. Purée de pois: a very thick fog.^[7][8]
4. (familiar, dated) Lack of money, poverty: être dans la purée.^[7][8][2]
5. (familiar) As an interjection, purée ! expressing dismay.^[7][2]

Word family

• purotin

Related words

• pur
• purin
• purifier
• Latin pūrus

Usage notes

Réduire en purée means to damage something badly or crush someone.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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 g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
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 d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)