raisin

Forms

raisin m (plural raisins)^[1] Old French resin (about 1119), roisin and reisin;^[2][3][4] raisin is a remaking of about 1275.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French resin, inherited from Vulgar Latin *racimus, an altered form of Latin racēmus (“cluster, bunch of grapes”).^[5][6][7][1] Rey notes that the form is found in Medieval Latin in the 9th century.^[2] The Latin word named a cluster in general, then a bunch of grapes and the grape itself; it is compared with Ancient Greek ῥάξ (rháx, “grape, berry”) and is probably a word of the Mediterranean substrate, like other words for the vine and wine.^[2][3][8]

In Gallo-Romance it replaced Latin ūva (“grape”), which survives only in Old Occitan; the few Old French examples of uve, mainly in the phrase uve passe (“raisin”), are Latinisms.^[5][7][2] It is a doublet of the learned racème.^[1]

Cognate with Old Occitan razim, Catalan rahim, Spanish racimo (“bunch of grapes”) and Italian racimolo (“small bunch of grapes”), which keep the sense “bunch”.^[5][7][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire (1121–1134), meaning the grape, the fruit of the vine.^[5][9]

Semantic evolution

The word names the fruit of the vine and enters many names of varieties and dried fruit: raisin de Corinthe (1545), raisin de Damas, raisin de caisse and raisins secs (1690); raisin sec replaced the older raisin pour Carême (1326).^[5][2] The phrase moitié figue, moitié raisin (1611), now mi-figue, mi-raisin, alludes to the fruits of Lent and came to mean “half willingly, half by force” or “partly good, partly bad” (1620).^[2]

By extension it named any berry in clusters (1538), as in the plant names raisin de renard “herb Paris” (1550) and raisin d'ours “bearberry” (1732).^[2][5] It also named the clustered eggs of cuttlefish, raisin de mer (Cotgrave, 1611), and a size of paper first watermarked with a bunch of grapes (1710).^[5][2][7]

English raisin “dried grape” came from Anglo-French about 1300, and German Rosine from an Old French variant.^[8][4] The derivative raisiné, a grape jelly (1508), became a slang word for blood (1808).^[2]

Timeline

• 1121–1134 – Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire has it for the grape.^[5][9]
• c. 1275 – The form raisin replaces resin.^[2][10]
• c. 1300 – English borrows it as “dried grape”.^[8]
• 1508 – The derivative résiné, later raisiné, is recorded.^[2][7]
• 1545 – Estienne records raisins de Corinthe.^[5][2]
• 1550 – Raisin de renard names a plant.^[5][2]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records raisin de mer and moitié figue, moitié raisin.^[5][2]
• 1690 – Furetière records raisins secs and raisin de caisse.^[5]
• 1710 – Used for a size of paper.^[5][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The grape, the fruit of the vine, berries growing in bunches: une grappe de raisin, raisin blanc, raisin noir.^[11][5]
2. Raisins secs: raisins, dried grapes;^[11][5] raisins de Corinthe: currants.^[11][5]
3. Berries in clusters of certain plants: raisin d'ours “bearberry”, raisin de renard “herb Paris”.^[11][5]
4. Raisin de mer: the clustered eggs of the cuttlefish.^[5]
5. (papermaking) A size of paper, also grand raisin.^[5][12]

Word family

• raisiné

Related words

• racème
• Latin racēmus
• English raisin

Usage notes

Mi-figue, mi-raisin “half one thing, half another” describes a mixed or ambiguous attitude; the story that it comes from Greek traders who sold figs hidden under raisins is a 19th-century invention.^[2]

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 p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 11b
7. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF