pervenche French · revision 15691

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1225–1230, parvenche (Roman de la Rose)|origins=la vincapervinca}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pɛʁ.vɑ̃ʃ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pervenche''' ''f'' (plural pervenches)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''parvenche'' (1225–1230).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|parvenche]], [[inh|la-lat|pervinca]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|14, 461b) a form implied by [[it|pervinca]] and [[ca|pervinca]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) short for [[la|vincapervinca]], the plant's Latin name.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) The name seems to come from a magic formula;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) it has been connected with [[m|la|vincō|t=to conquer]] or [[m|la|vinciō|t=to bind]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Littré thought the plant was named for conquering diseases.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ The simple Late Latin [[m|la-lat|vinca]] gave Old French [[m|fro|venche]] (about 1220), still used in eastern and Picard dialects.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Guillaume de Lorris's part of the ''Roman de la Rose'' (1225–1230) has ''parvenche'' for the plant.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The plant, with its blue-mauve flowers in shady woodland, was dear to Rousseau, as Nerval recalls.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) From the flower the word named a colour: ''couleur pervenche'' (1900), ''pervenche'' alone (1909), and the invariable adjective (''des yeux pervenche'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ In 1978 the women traffic wardens of the Paris police were nicknamed ''pervenches'' when their uniforms changed colour; they had earlier been called ''aubergines''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1220 – Old French ''venche''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1225–1230 – ''Parvenche'' (''Roman de la Rose'').^(TLFi)

+ * 1800 – ''Petite pervenche''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1900 – ''Couleur pervenche''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1978 – A Paris traffic warden.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|periwinkle]], the plant ''Vinca''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A pale blue-mauve colour.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(familiar)'' A female traffic warden in Paris.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Periwinkle-blue (invariable): ''des yeux pervenche''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|periwinkle]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}