absinthe French · revision 15718

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1190, absince|origins=grc ἀψίνθιον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ap.sɛ̃t/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''absinthe''' ''f'' (plural absinthes)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''absince'' (about 1190, still in the 17th century), ''absynce'', ''absinthe'' (1448); the spelling with ⟨i⟩ prevails in the Académie from 1762^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi). The gender long wavered, Vaugelas making it masculine.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|absinthium]], which named both the plant artemisia and, from Pliny on, the drink made from it,^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|24, 52b) from [[grc|ἀψίνθιον|tr=apsínthion|t=wormwood]], a pre-Greek word.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) The ending suggested the folk etymology “herbe sainte” “holy herb”, after the plant's medicinal use.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Only Old Occitan [[m|pro|aisens]] and some Franche-Comté and Gascon dialect forms are inherited from the popular Latin “ausentium”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935) Old French had another name for the plant, [[m|fro|aluisne]], which survives in Norman “aliène”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old French ''absince'' (about 1190) first names wine flavoured with wormwood; the plant itself is called ''absinthe'' from 1448.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Following Church Latin, the bitter plant stood for bitterness and sorrow, from Maurice Scève to La Bruyère^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi); Malherbe even wrote ''adoucir toutes nos absynthes''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The word also covers other species of artemisia.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ The green spirit distilled from the leaves appears in 1811 and became important after 1860, when ''la fée verte'' was denounced as a social scourge and a symbol of alcoholism; it was banned in France in 1915.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) Most derivatives belong to that era: ''absinthier'' and ''s'absinther'' (1866), ''absinthisme'' (1871).^(DHLF 1992) ''Vert absinthe'' is a yellowish green (1925).^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1190 – ''Absince'', wormwood wine.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ * 1448 – ''Absinthe'', the plant.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1546 – ''Absinthe'' in Rabelais.^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1762 – The Académie settles on the spelling with ⟨i⟩.^(TLFi)

+ * 1811 – The distilled spirit.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1871 – ''Absinthisme''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1915 – Absinthe is banned in France.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|wormwood|alt=Wormwood]], a bitter aromatic species of [[m|en|artemisia]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|absinthe|alt=Absinthe]], a strong green spirit flavoured with this plant.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(literary)'' Bitterness.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[armoise]]

+ * [[la|absinthium]]

+ * [[en|absinthe]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}