sarrasin

Forms

sarrasin (feminine sarrasine, masculine plural sarrasins, feminine plural sarrasines)^[1] As the name of buckwheat, sarrasin is a masculine noun, plural sarrasins.^[1][2] Old French sarrazin, also sarradin (about 1175, Chrétien de Troyes), with suffixed variants sarrazineis and sarrazinois.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin Sarracenus, singular of the plural Sarraceni, the name of a people of Arabia that the Byzantines extended to all the peoples subject to the caliph.^[3][5][6][7] The TLFi names the Medieval Latin Saraceni, the name of the Muslim peoples of the Near East, North Africa and Spain.^[4] The Latin comes from Ancient Greek Σαρακηνοί (Sarakēnoí), which Ptolemy used in the 2nd century of a nomadic people of Arabia, and which from the 6th century was a general name for the Arabs.^[4][1]

The TLFi and the FEW link the Greek name to the place name Saraka, a town of Arabia Felix named by Ptolemy and a region of Sinai.^[4][8] The older derivation from an Arabic word meaning “eastern” is given by the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert,^[6][2] but Rey calls it controversial and Bloch and Wartburg untenable.^[3][5]

The name of the plant, buckwheat, is short for blé sarrasin (1545), so called from the black colour of the grain, compared to the dark skin of the Saracens or Moors.^[4][6][3][5] Medieval Latin already had frumentum sarracenorum in 1460.^[4][5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), both as a noun, li Sarrazins “the Saracens”, and as an adjective, sarrazins messages “Saracen messengers”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the word named and qualified whatever came from the East, above all any pagan, and in particular the Muslims of the East, Africa and Spain; its use was strongly coloured by the wars of the Crusades.^[3][10] From this came the senses “cruel” (13th century) and “deceitful” (1518).^[3] More neutrally it meant “of eastern origin or imitation” (1224), as in lettres sarrasines (1368) or lettres de Sarrasin (1380), decorative imitations of Arabic script on oriental fabrics.^[3][7] In the 15th century loi sarrasine meant paganism.^[3]

The grain introduced into Europe from Central Asia in the 15th century was called blé sarrasin (1545) and then simply sarrasin (1551), beside the other name blé noir.^[4][3][5] Bloch and Wartburg and the Grand Robert date the noun from 1554;^[5][6] millet sarrazin is found as early as 1547.^[5]

In the 19th century the adjective entered technical vocabulary: tuile sarrasine (1842), a broad tile used in Provence and ascribed to the Saracen occupation, and voûte sarrasine (1842), a pointed vault, from the belief that the ogive came from the Arabs.^[3][4] In printers' slang (1866–1867) a sarrasin was a worker who accepted less than the agreed rate or broke a strike.^[4][3][7]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Sarrazins appears as noun and adjective in the Chanson de Roland.^[4]
• c. 1175 – Chrétien de Troyes uses the form sarradin.^[3]
• 1224 – It means “of eastern origin or imitation”.^[3]
• 1368 – Lettres sarrasines is recorded.^[3][7]
• 1460 – Medieval Latin frumentum sarracenorum names buckwheat.^[4][9]
• 1518 – It is used for “deceitful”.^[3]
• 1545 – Charles Estienne records blé sarrasin.^[4]
• 1551 – Gouberville's journal uses sarrasin alone for the grain.^[4][3]
• 1842 – Tuile sarrasine and voûte sarrasine are recorded.^[3][4]
• 1866 – Delvau records the printers' slang sense.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Saracen, of the Muslims of the Middle Ages: les incursions sarrasines ont ravagé la côte.^[2][4]
2. Tuiles sarrasines: broad tiles used in Provence.^[2][3]

Noun

1. (usually capitalized) A Saracen, a Muslim of the East, Africa or Spain in the Middle Ages.^[2][4][7]
2. buckwheat, a cereal grown for its floury seed, also called blé noir.^[2][11][4] Farine de sarrasin, galettes de sarrasin.^[2]
3. (dated, printing slang) A non-union worker, or one who works for less than the agreed rate.^[4][7]

Related words

• blé noir
• English Saracen

Usage notes

The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert number the word as two headwords, sarrasin 1 “Saracen” (1080) and sarrasin 2 “buckwheat” (1554), and the TLFi likewise has two articles;^[6][2][4][9] Littré has three.^[6][2][4][9] The ethnic noun is written with a capital, Sarrasin.^[7][1]

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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 219a
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)