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Sunday, May 8, 2011

I'll see if I have a vase big enough...

How about giving your mother a grove of trees for Mother's Day? That is what “bouquet” originally meant in French. It came from a Germanic word, bosk, also the ultimate origin of the word “bush”. Although a bouquet was by definition a clump of trees, the French started to say, redundantly, “un bouquet d'arbres” (literally a clump of trees of trees). The English “grove of trees” is similarly redundant, because you can't have a grove of anything else. As a result, the French began to think that bouquet meant a “clump” or “bunch” of any plants, and started to talk about a “bouquet de fleurs” – a bunch of flowers. It came into English in the 1700s, when it was terribly trendy to borrow French words.

2 comments:

  1. Hello,

    I wonder if Romanian has "stolen" this from French (or Italian etc.): "boschet" means "bush". On the other hand, we did borrow the word "bouquet" as "buchet". I have never suspected anything about these two words ...

    Anyway, in recent years, when I hear bouquet", I automatically think "Strauss".

    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Which led me on a ramble through the OED Online exploring "bosky dell." Thanks, Katherine.

    ReplyDelete

About Me

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Canada's Word Lady, Katherine Barber is an expert on the English language and a frequent guest on radio and television. She was Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary. Her witty and informative talks on the stories behind our words are very popular. Contact her at wordlady.barber@gmail.com to book her for speaking engagements; she can tailor her talks to almost any subject. She is also available as an expert witness for lawsuits.