Etymologically
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tulipe

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ty.lip/[1]

Forms

tulipe f (plural tulipes)[1] Tulipa (1593), tulipan (1600, still used in southern dialects), tulippe (1611), tulipe (1624).[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Turkish tülbent (“turban”), by comparison of the flower's shape with a turban,[2][3][4][5][6][7] itself from a Persian word for “turban”.[2][3] In 1554 the imperial ambassador Busbecq, travelling in Turkey, wrote of flowers “quos Turcae tulipan vocant”, which the Turks call “tulipan”;[2][3][4] the Turkish names of the flower itself were different.[2][4] The GLLF has the word pass through the scholarly Latin New Latin tulipa.[8]

The change from “tulipan” to “tulipe” is not explained.[3] Rey suggests the ending was taken for a suffix, or the influence of the Netherlands, where the tulip was grown early and a Latin form “tulipa” is found.[3] The older form lives on in Italian tulipano, Spanish tulipán and Occitan tulipan.[3][4] turban is a doublet.[5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Marnix of Saint-Aldegonde mentions five bulbs of oriental tulipas in a letter of 1593; the tulip had reached western Europe about 1560.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Olivier de Serres describes the tulipan in 1600, and Guez de Balzac writes tulipe in 1624.[2][10] Tulips were prized by 17th-century collectors, as La Bruyère's tulip fancier shows.[3]

From the shape of the flower, the name passed to tulip-shaped things: a glass lampshade or globe (1893, Courteline) and a drinking glass.[2][6] The tulip tree, tulipier, is named from 1751.[4]

Timeline

  • 1554 – Busbecq notes the Turkish tulipan.[2][3]
  • about 1560 – The tulip reaches western Europe.[2][3]
  • 1593 – Tulipa in French (Marnix).[2]
  • 1600 – Tulipan (Olivier de Serres).[2][4]
  • 1611 – Tulippe (Cotgrave).[2]
  • 1624 – Tulipe (Guez de Balzac).[2]
  • 1751 – Tulipier.[4]
  • 1893 – A tulip-shaped lampshade.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A tulip, the bulbous plant and its flower.[6][1]
  2. A tulip-shaped object, such as a glass lampshade or drinking glass.[6][8]

Word family

  • tulipier

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 c d e f g h Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 19, 188b
  8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette