yogourt

Forms

yogourt m (plural yogourts)^[1] Also yaourt, the commonest form in France, and yoghourt.^[2][3][4] Older spellings: yocourt (1657), youghourd (1673) and yaourth (1853, Gautier).^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish یوغورت (yoğurt), modern Turkish yoğurt.^[2][1][5] The TLFi explains the form yaourt from a Turkish variant yoourt.^[2] The DHLF and the Grand Robert instead have the word come through Bulgarian, which had taken it from Turkish.^[3][4] The Grand Robert derives the Turkish word from yoğurmak (“to knead”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as yogourt in the Voyage d'Outre-Mer of Bertrandon de la Broquière, an account of a journey of 1432 written in 1455–57, for the curdled milk of the Turks.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

For a long time yogourt was a traveller's word for an exotic food, rare before the 20th century.^[3][4] The spelling yaourt appears in 1798–99, in a translation of an English book on the Ottoman Empire.^[2] The food spread in French-speaking countries from the early 20th century, and after 1945 industrial yogurts brought set phrases such as yaourt nature and yaourt aux fruits.^[3]

Swiss French uses yogourt figuratively for a uniform, compact mass, and says pédaler dans le yogourt “to struggle without getting anywhere”, on the model of pédaler dans la choucroute.^[6] English yogurt is recorded from the 1620s, directly from Turkish.^[7]

Timeline

• 1432 – Bertrandon de la Broquière's journey, written up in 1455–57, gives the first record, yogourt.^[2][3]
• 1620s – English yughurd is recorded.^[7]
• 1657 – Written yocourt.^[3][4]
• 1673 – Written youghourd.^[3][4]
• 1798–99 – The form yaourt appears.^[2]
• 1853 – Théophile Gautier writes yaourth.^[3][4]
• 20th century – The word enters everyday use.^[3][4]
• 1950 – Yaourtière “yogurt maker” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Yogurt: milk curdled by lactic ferments, not drained: un yogourt à la vanille.^[2][4][6]
2. (Switzerland, figurative) A uniform, compact mass.^[6]
3. (Switzerland) Pédaler dans le yogourt: to make efforts in vain, to get bogged down.^[6]

Related words

• yaourt
• yoghourt
• yaourtière

Usage notes

Yaourt is the usual form in France, while yogourt or yoghourt is preferred in Switzerland, Belgium and Quebec, perhaps under the influence of German Joghurt and English yogurt.^[3][6] The TLFi treats all the forms under yaourt.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 d e f g h i j k l 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 20, 37b
6. ^ a b c d e Base de données lexicographiques panfrancophone (BDLP), Trésor de la langue française au Québec / Agence universitaire de la Francophonie, bdlp.org
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com