`We’re looking at flowers this week, since spring is finally starting to
warm things up around here.
Rose
Rose comes from the Old English rose, which just means, you know, rose the plant. It’s from the classical Latin rosa, and I’m sure you can guess what that means. Not a lot of change here. It’s thought to be from the Greek rhodon, which means either rose or rhododendron, so that makes sense. It’s actually thought rhodon comes from the Iranian root word vrda-, which was a very old Persian word for rose (and FYI, the v was pronounced like a u). And by all accounts, the flower rose is not related at all to the past tense of rise.
Lily
Lily comes from the Old English lilie, from the classical Latin lilia, which means lilies, while the singular is lilium. That’s related to the Greek leirion, but what spawned both those words is unknown.
Tulip
Tulip has an actual century attached to it, showing up sometime during the late sixteenth century. It’s from either the German or Dutch tulpe, which comes from the Turkish word tülbent, which means… cheesecloth. Or gauze, or muslin, or a wrapping like a turban. It’s from the Persian word dulband, turban, because apparently the flowers were first imported to Europe from Turkey, and people thought they resembled turbans.
Daisy
Daisy showed up fairly early, in the fourteenth century, from the Old English daegesege, which is a mix of daeges, day, and eage, eye. Because the petals of a daisy open in the morning and close at night, the flower was called the “day eye”.
Daffodil
Daffodil showed up in the mid sixteenth century as asphodel, from the Middle English affodill. It’s from the Medieval Latin affodillus, classical Latin asphodelus, and Greek asphodelos, daffodil. Where’d the D come from? Well, in Dutch, they’re called de affodil, the asphodel, and since the Netherlands was an exporter of the flowers, English kind of copied the D and started saying d’asphodel or daffodil.
Sources
Online Etymology Dictionary
Google Translate
Omniglot
University of Texas at Arlington
Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English
Old English-English Dictionary
Dictionary of Medieval Latin
Rose comes from the Old English rose, which just means, you know, rose the plant. It’s from the classical Latin rosa, and I’m sure you can guess what that means. Not a lot of change here. It’s thought to be from the Greek rhodon, which means either rose or rhododendron, so that makes sense. It’s actually thought rhodon comes from the Iranian root word vrda-, which was a very old Persian word for rose (and FYI, the v was pronounced like a u). And by all accounts, the flower rose is not related at all to the past tense of rise.
Lily comes from the Old English lilie, from the classical Latin lilia, which means lilies, while the singular is lilium. That’s related to the Greek leirion, but what spawned both those words is unknown.
Tulip has an actual century attached to it, showing up sometime during the late sixteenth century. It’s from either the German or Dutch tulpe, which comes from the Turkish word tülbent, which means… cheesecloth. Or gauze, or muslin, or a wrapping like a turban. It’s from the Persian word dulband, turban, because apparently the flowers were first imported to Europe from Turkey, and people thought they resembled turbans.
Daisy showed up fairly early, in the fourteenth century, from the Old English daegesege, which is a mix of daeges, day, and eage, eye. Because the petals of a daisy open in the morning and close at night, the flower was called the “day eye”.
Daffodil showed up in the mid sixteenth century as asphodel, from the Middle English affodill. It’s from the Medieval Latin affodillus, classical Latin asphodelus, and Greek asphodelos, daffodil. Where’d the D come from? Well, in Dutch, they’re called de affodil, the asphodel, and since the Netherlands was an exporter of the flowers, English kind of copied the D and started saying d’asphodel or daffodil.
Online Etymology Dictionary
Google Translate
Omniglot
University of Texas at Arlington
Tony Jebson’s page on the Origins of Old English
Old English-English Dictionary
Dictionary of Medieval Latin
Tulip is kind of convoluted.
ReplyDeleteI will never look at a tulip the same way again...
ReplyDeleteI only found out recently that daisy in Spanish is margarita. And now I want to know how the cocktail is related. The D for daffodil is kind of like the D in denim. Interesting. Funny how we translate (or don't translate) things.
ReplyDeleteI love that derivation for tulip. They look exactly like tiny upside down turbans!
ReplyDeleteRose was predictable. But tulip was a surprise!
ReplyDelete