English
Plantagenet
Plantagenet comes from Old French plante genest.
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400plante genest
- Englishearliest quotation 1902Plantagenet
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400plante genest
- Englishearliest quotation 1902Plantagenet
Earliest quotation: 1902, Charles Robert Ashbee, Masque of the Edwards of England: “[…] all the fine intelligence of all the Plantagenets,…”
The story
Originally a sobriquet of Geoffrey of Anjou (1113-1151), founder of the line, who was said to have worn a yellow broom blossom in his hat, Old French plante genest (French plante genêt), from Latin planta genista (‘sprig of broom’), whence Medieval Latin Plantagenistae; subsequently adopted as a surname.
Every English word from Old French plante genest
Today it means
noun A member of the dynasty which held the English throne from 1154 to 1485.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old French plante genest / Plantagenet