sarriette

Forms

sarriette f (plural sarriettes)^[1] Sarriete (1350); the spelling sariette is also in use.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is a diminutive formed from Old French sarriee + -ete.^[2][5][3] The Old French plant name, first sadree in Rashi's glosses (late 11th century), then sarree (12th century), the 13th-century form used here, sarreie and serrie, is from Latin satureia (“savory”).^[2][4][6] Plant names used in the regions are often altered, which, according to Rey and to Bloch and Wartburg, accounts for the many forms.^[4][5]

Old Occitan had sadreia and sadriega (about 1280), the second of which Middle French borrowed as sadriege (1528) and sadree.^[5][4] Italian has the altered santoreggia, and Spanish ajedrea came through Arabic.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bloch and Wartburg date the word to 1339; the TLFi's first quotation is sarriete in a medical text of 1350.^[5][2] The Ménagier de Paris (14th century) notes that sarriette lasts only until Midsummer.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word has always named the aromatic plant savory.^[7][2] The cultivated kind is called sarriette des jardins from 1556 (de jardin in 1562); sarriette de montagne is recorded in 1562, and summer and winter savory, sarriette d'été and d'hiver, in 1667.^[4][6][2] The borrowed sadree lived beside it: Olivier de Serres wrote in 1600 that sarriete was called sadrée by some, and the form is still found in 1767.^[7][4]

Timeline

• Late 11th century – Old French sadree is recorded in Rashi's glosses.^[2][6]
• 1339 – Sarriette is first recorded.^[5][3]
• 1350 – Sarriete appears in a medical text.^[2]
• 1528 – Middle French borrows Occitan sadriege.^[4]
• 1556 – Sarriette des jardins is recorded.^[4][6]
• 1562 – Sarriette de montagne is recorded.^[4]
• 1667 – Pierre Morin writes of sariette d'hyver.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. savory, an aromatic plant of the mint family (Lamiaceae), with white, pink or violet flowers.^[2][6][7]
2. Sarriette des jardins: summer savory, grown for its fragrant leaves used as a condiment: des fèves à la sarriette.^[8][9][6]

Related words

• Latin satureia

Usage notes

Littré records a second sarriette, used for sarrette, a different plant.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)