distiler

Forms

distiler verb^[1]

• distiller, destiller^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin distīllō (“to drip, trickle down”).^[4][5][6] The Latin verb, also written dēstillō, is formed from Latin dē- + stīllō (“to drip”), from stīlla (“a drop”),^[7][8] which is probably a diminutive of stīria (“a frozen drop, icicle”).^[8][9] In Medieval Latin it was also used transitively for producing or giving off a liquid drop by drop.^[5]

The FEW files the word under the Latin form with “de-”, whose inherited outcomes survive only in a few local dialects, of water dripping from a roof.^[10] Bloch and Wartburg trace the technical sense of distilling to the Latin of the alchemists.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is a 13th-century Psalter, quoted in Godefroy's supplement, where the verb means to let something fall drop by drop.^[4] The earliest dated record in the DEAF is a medical treatise of Champagne written in Hebrew script, between 1290 and 1306.^[12][13]

Semantic evolution

In 1314 Henri de Mondeville's surgery uses the verb for filtering a pigment several times over, as lye is filtered.^[1][4] Middle French kept the sense of making a liquid flow drop by drop: Mandeville's travels tell how cloves and spikenard are made to drip out a liquor called balm.^[14] The sense of carrying out a distillation is dated about 1516 and a figurative use from 1564–1566 in Ronsard.^[4] In the 16th and 17th centuries the verb was also intransitive, after Latin.^[11] The modern verb is French distiller.^[4]

Timeline

• 1200s – a Psalter, for letting something fall drop by drop.^[4]
• 1290–1306 – distiler in a medical treatise from Champagne in Hebrew script.^[12][13]
• 1314 – Henri de Mondeville's surgery, for filtering.^[4][15]
• c. 1325 – the first Anglo-Norman record.^[2]
• c. 1516 – first record of the sense of carrying out a distillation.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. to let fall or flow drop by drop; to trickle.^[4][14]
2. to filter or decant.^[1][4]
3. to distil.^[2]

Anglo-Norman

The AND heads the verb distiller, with the spelling destiller, and first cites it from about 1325 in the sense "to distil".^[2] Middle English distillen, first "to flow or fall in drops", is from Latin and Old French,^[16] and the English word distil is dated to the late 14th century.^[17]

Descendants

• Middle French distiller (→ French distiller)^[14][4]
• Middle English distillen (borrowed; → English distil)^[16][17]

Usage notes

Tobler–Lommatzsch heads the word distiler,^[1] the AND, the DMF and Godefroy's supplement distiller.^[2][14][18]

References

1. ^ a b c d Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 2:1957
2. ^ a b c d e Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. distiller
3. ^ FROLEX 3.0, lexique morphologique du français médiéval (IXe–XVe s.), Base de français médiéval, ENS de Lyon (from the BFM, the Nouveau Corpus d'Amsterdam and the DMF), github.com/sheiden/Medieval-French-Language-Toolkit
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. distiller
6. ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 349
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. destillo
8. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. stilla
10. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3:55
11. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France, p. 238
12. ^ a b Baldinger, Kurt; Möhren, Frankwalt; Städtler, Thomas, eds. (1971–2021), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF), Heidelberg: Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften; DEAFél / DEAFpré, deaf-server.adw.uni-heidelberg.de, p. s.v. distiler
13. ^ a b Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. FevresS
14. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf, p. s.v. distiller
15. ^ Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. HMondB
16. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
17. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
18. ^ Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon, p. 9:396