reinette French · revision 16094

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=1535, Charles Estienne}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʁɛ.nɛt/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /ʁe.nɛt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''reinette''' ''f'' (plural reinettes)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Pomme de renette'' (1535), ''pomme renette'' (1549), ''pomme de reinette'' (about 1560–1575, Paré), ''renette'' (1611), ''reinette'' (1680); also ''rainette'' until the 17th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a diminutive of [[reine|t=queen]] with the suffix “-ette”,^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) used, as “reine” and its derivatives often were, for fruits and plants that were especially prized (compare “roynette” “meadowsweet”).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Bloch and Wartburg and Rey hold that it cannot be the same word as [[rainette|t=tree frog]], from Latin “rana”, as was once believed, and explain the spelling “rainette” as a confusion rather than a comparison of the frog's skin with the apple's.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) Wiktionary instead takes it from Old French “raine” “frog”, influenced by “reine”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Charles Estienne's ''Seminarium'' (1535) has ''pômes de renette'' in its French index.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Reinette'' alone, by ellipsis, is recorded by Richelet (1680).^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) It is a collective name for many varieties of very fragrant eating apple, of different shapes, colours and seasons: ''reinette grise du Canada'', ''reinette du Mans'', ''reine des reinettes''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse) Anglo-Norman already had ''reinette'' for meadowsweet and a variety of apple (late 13th century).^(AND)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 13th century – Anglo-Norman ''reinette''.^(AND)

+ * 1535 – ''Pômes de renette''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1549 – ''Pomme renette'' in Robert Estienne.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1575 – ''Pommes de reinette'' in Paré.^(TLFi)

+ * 1611 – ''Renette'' in Cotgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1680 – ''Reinette'' in Richelet.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A reinette, [[m|en|pippin]] (a variety of eating apple): ''reinette grise du Canada'', ''reine des reinettes''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[reine]]

+ * [[rainette]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Reinette'' “apple” is distinguished in spelling from its homophone ''rainette'' “tree frog”.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}