Etymograph

English

lentil

Lentil comes from Old French lentille ‘lentil (plant)’, and goes back to Latin lenticula.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElenticula
  2. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*lenticlareconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400lentille‘lentil (plant)’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lentile‘the seed of the lentil used as food’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1961lentil

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElenticula
  2. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*lenticlareconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400lentille‘lentil (plant)’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lentile‘the seed of the lentil used as food’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1961lentil

Earliest quotation: 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs: “In ancient Greece, lentils were believed to stimulate desire.”

Linked words

through Middle English lentile ‘the seed of the lentil used as food’

till

Today it means

noun Any of several plants of the genus Lens, especially Lens culinaris, from southwest Asia, that have edible, lens-shaped seeds within flattened pods.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin lenticula / lentil

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