tilleul

Forms

tilleul m (plural tilleuls)^[1] Old French tilluel (1178), later tiloel; the form tilleul dates from the 15th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French tilluel, inherited from Vulgar Latin *tiliolus (“linden”), a diminutive of *tilius, a masculine formed on tilia (“linden”).^{[2][5][3][6][1]} Rey calls the Latin noun, recorded from Virgil, a word with no known etymology.^[3] The simple form gave Old French til and teil, used for the tree until the 18th and 19th centuries.^[2][3]

Bloch and Wartburg find the diminutive only in French; Italian tiglio and Romanian tei go back to the simple form.^[6] Littré gives the Walloon form tyou.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as tilluel in the Roman de Renart (1178), naming the tree.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Beside the tree, it named its wood (1409).^[2] By metonymy it came to mean the dried flowers and bracts used for herbal tea, and the infusion itself (1829 in the DHLF, 1855 in the TLFi, in George Sand).^[3][2] As a colour it names a pale green, mostly in vert tilleul (1903, Huysmans) and as an adjective (1909).^[7][3]

Tilleul d'Afrique names another tree of the equatorial forest.^[3]

Timeline

• 1178 – Tilluel appears in the Roman de Renart.^[2]
• 1409 – Used for the wood of the tree.^[2]
• 15th century – The form tilleul replaces tilluel.^[3][8]
• 1829 – Used for the infusion of its flowers.^[3]
• 1872 – Littré records it for the flower.^[2]
• 1903 – Vert tilleul “pale green” in Huysmans.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The linden or lime tree, with simple alternate leaves and very fragrant pale yellow flowers.^[9][2][1]
2. The wood of this tree.^[2][3]
3. The dried flowers and bracts of the tree, or the herbal infusion made from them.^[9][2]
4. Vert tilleul, or tilleul alone: a soft pale green.^[9][7]

Related words

• teille
• tiliacées
• Latin tilia

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/1, 328b
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert