Advent (L’amour de l’étymologie XI)
L’amour de l’étymologie is a feature exploring the etymology of English words. Today’s definition is Advent, because this year the 30th is the beginning of the season for Roman Catholics. The noun is usually capitalized when used in a religious sense, but not in other contexts.
The word advent came from Latin (“adventus”, meaning “arrival”) via the Old French “advent” (a literary form of the word “auvent”). It was used earliest – in English – to mean “the name of the period preceding the festival of the Nativity” in the 10th or 11th century. In the middle of the 15th century it also became the proper title of the Incarnation (i.e. Advent, with a capital “a”) and was then extended to Christ’s second Advent (as a judge) and to the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. In modern times it has also been used to mean any arrival or beginning, as per the Latin root, although usually one of some significance.
From the OED… definitions of Advent!
1. a. In the ecclesiastical calendar, the season immediately preceding the festival of the Nativity, now including the four preceding Sundays.
b. Advent Sunday, the first Sunday in Advent, the Sunday nearest to the thirtieth of November.
2. The Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour of the world; the Incarnation. Hence his expected Second Coming as Judge, and the Coming of the Holy Spirit as at Pentecost.
3. By extension, Any important or epoch-making arrival. In modern usage applied poetically or grandiloquently to any arrival. (This use is unknown to Johnson 1755 and Todd 1818.)
Additions Series 1993
Advent, n.Add: [1.] [b.] Special Combs. Advent calendar, a calendar celebrating the approach of Christmas, esp. one made with flaps or windows opened one each day to reveal a seasonal picture, gift, etc.
Advent candle, a candle lit during Advent; spec. each candle in a ring of four, lit on successive Sundays in Advent to symbolize the coming of light into the world at Christmas (when a fifth central candle completes the group).
Advent ring, a ring of four Advent candles. [I guess only Americans call this an Advent wreath: a circle of evergreens with the candles equidistant.]
I thoroughly enjoyed Advent as a child, but for all the wrong reasons. For me it wasn’t a prelude to Christmas, but rather – seemingly – some bizarre, heathen-y pagan sabbath remnant thing. After dinner my mom would turn out all the lights. Then we’d:
- Gather ’round the Advent wreath and light one (or more) of the candles in the darkness.
- Read some strange religious tripe off of index cards. (Occasionally from the Bible, if memory serves.)
- Open the day’s date on the Nativity-themed Advent calendar and read the nugget of wisdom contained therein. (No candy inside this calendar. Wisdom only.)
- Sing quietly and solemnly. (We always ended with “O come, O come, Emmanuel” and a formulaic, upbeat ditty that went like this: “X more weeks to Christmas. X candles burning bright. We await our Savior, each Advent night.”)
I’d always zone out during the boring parts and resist participating in the reading of index cards. My sisters were equally as bad, if not moreso. We’d test our courage by putting the candles out with our fingers, passing our index finger through the candles’ flames, and playing with the melted wax (by scalding ourselves, a sibling, or mixing the pink and purple wax.) Along with me they’d squabble about who got to light and blow out the candles. I remember that once we all joined forces to undermine a particularly insipid Advent song my mother introduced one season, to the delight of my father and (feigned) vexation of my mother. (She totally got a kick out of it.)
:: Bibliography ::
- “Advent.” Oxford English Dictionary. 2008. 30 Nov. 2008 <http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/findword?query_type=word&queryword=Advent&find.x=0&find.y=0&find=Find+word>
Ghost (L’amour de l’étymologie X)
Let’s cut to the chase: Everyone knows what the noun ghost refers to, or can find out, so today we’ll look at using ghost as a verb.
Ghost segued into modern English from Old English (gást) by way of the West Germanic languages. It is believed to have an older, pre-Teutonic origin: gaisto-z/ghoizdo-z meaning fury/anger. The word’s presumptive root has a cognate sense that suggests “to rage” and “to terrify”. It’s all very complicated, so you may want to look it up. (Heh.)
Ghost was first used in English, in print, as an intransitive verb in 1586 to mean die, expire, “give up the ghost”. It can be used transitively to mean “To haunt as an apparition” Shakepeare employed the word in this manner when he wrote: “Iulius Cæsar Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted” in his tragedy Antony and Cleopatra. (That being the earliest example of this usage in 1606.) It can also mean to “scare with pretended apparitions”.
Ghost can also be used to mean “To flit about, prowl as a ghost [...] to steal away like a ghost.” When applied to a sailing vessel it means “to make relatively good progress when there is very little wind.” Finally, it can mean to “write (something) as a ghost-writer”.
My favorite ghost has to be one that haunts Windward House in the 1944 haunted house flick The Uninvited.
:: Bibliography ::
- “Ghost.” Oxford English Dictionary. 25 October 2008 http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/findword?query_type=word&queryword=ghost&find.x=0&find.y=0&find=Find+word
Vampire (L’amour de l’étymologie IX)
Here we are again, with a special Halloween edition of L’amour de l’étymologie (a feature here at Librari[d]an exploring the etymology of English words). We’re counting down my top Halloween words and reveling in their depraved etymologies!
Is anyone else tired of today’s noun, vampire? I am. These pesky buggers are popping up everywhere. I took a class during my undergraduate studies entitled “Vampire: Blood and Empire”. There was one particular graduate student who was remarkably infuriating for her childish, pseudo-scholarly obsession with vampire subcultures. She gave a presentation on them, and I asked her how to detect whether a psychic vampire is feeding off of you. She answered with a straight face, but I digress…
The Oxford English Dictionary defines vampire as “A preternatural being of a malignant nature (in the original and usual form of the belief, a reanimated corpse), supposed to seek nourishment, or do harm, by sucking the blood of sleeping persons; a man or woman abnormally endowed with similar habits.” It can also be used figuratively to mean “A person of a malignant and loathsome character, esp. one who preys ruthlessly upon others; a vile and cruel exactor or extortioner” or an “intolerable bore or tedious person” (i.e. that vampire know-it-all). The word “vamp” is an abbreviation of vampire, and means a “woman who intentionally attracts and exploits men”.
The word was first used in English in 1734: “These Vampyres are supposed to be the Bodies of deceased Persons, animated by evil Spirits, which come out of the Graves, in the Night-time, suck the Blood of many of the Living, and thereby destroy them.” It was borrowed from the Slavic languages (it occurs in more or less the same form in Russian, Polish, Czech, Serbian, and Bulgarian) by way of French.
Vampire can also mean a “double-leaved trap-door, closing by means of springs, used in theatres to effect a sudden disappearance from the stage.” These are also called “vampire traps” (as in trapdoor). The vampire trap was first introduced at the London Lyceum for JR Planché’s 1820 adaptation of the French work The Vampire. (Cambridge Guide to Theatre) Vampire traps were not mainly installed in the floor of a stage, but rather in scenery walls, allowing a vampire or ghost to apparently disappear through a solid structure. (Auerbach 23)
Zoologically vampire can refer to the vampire bat, and is rarely used to mean tarantula or devil-fish.
:: Bibliography ::
- Auerbach, Nina. Our Vampires, Ourselves. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.
- The Cambridge Guide to Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. s.v. “Planché, J(ames) R(obinson) (1795 – 1880),” http://www.credoreference.com/entry/966584/. (accessed October 25, 2008).
- “Vamp.” Oxford English Dictionary. 25 October 2008 http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/findword?query_type=word&queryword=vamp&find.x=0&find.y=0&find=Find+word
- “Vampire.” Oxford English Dictionary. 25 October 2008 http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/findword?query_type=word&queryword=vampire&find.x=0&find.y=0&find=Find+word
Black Cat (L’amour de l’étymologie VIII)
Welcome to an unlucky installment of the Halloween edition of L’amour de l’étymologie (a feature here at Librari[d]an exploring the etymology of English words). We’re counting down my top Halloween words and revealing their fiendish etymologies!
Today I’m cheating, because the phrase “black cat” isn’t exactly a word with an etymological pedigree (in the traditional sense). So let’s be slightly encyclopedic instead and take a gander at these ill-starred felines.
A black cat is a bête noire of sorts, as “Black animals are often regarded with ill favour. [...] a black cat crossing one’s path brings bad luck. Black generally is also the colour of the Devil.” (“Bête noire”, Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable) This kind of apantomancy (“forecasting from chance meetings with animals”) goes both ways. (The Macquarie Dictionary) It’s not uncommon for sources to assert that black cats crossing your path is often considered a sign of good luck.
The “cat has been associated with good and bad luck in equal measure, black cats especially so. To have a black cat cross your path was said by some to be bad luck, but to others seeing a black cat, or owning a black cat charm, was said to be good luck. Cats were also sometimes credited with the power of affecting the weather, perhaps leading to the somewhat ambivalent relationship between cats and sailors. In some areas a stray black cat onboard ship was considered unlucky, but in others, a black cat would be taken on board as a good luck charm.” (“Cats”, Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained)
Another example of a benefitial black cat was when the University of Sunderland’s football [soccer] team had one turn up in the club’s changing rooms, “marking a turn-up in the club’s fortunes”. (Brewer’s Britain and Ireland) They supposedly changed their name to the Black Cats as a result. (Brewer’s Britain and Ireland)
However, I think black cats are often viewed simply as incarnations of evil. Regarde:
Sometimes, the superstition [Friday the 13th as an unlucky day] is combined with others, such as that it is bad luck to meet a black cat. On Thursday, 12 October 1939 the town of French Lick, Indiana, passed a law, beginning at midnight and running throughout the following day, to the effect that all black cats should be belled so the population could avoid them. Off and on, the law remained in force for the ill-omened Fridays until 1942. (“Friday the 13th”, Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained)
…
French Lick, Indiana… lol.
Black cats are also thought of as consorts or familiars of witches. This apparently stems “from the medieval superstition that Satan’s favourite form was a black cat. [...] The superstition may have arisen from the classical legend of Galenthias, who was turned into a cat and became a priestess of Hecate.” (“Cat”, Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable)
I was going to snoop around and find out what black cats symbolize in art iconography, but am far too lazy. I think my motivation has been targeted by a caster of the evil eye. Until next time my superstitious readers!
:: Bibliography ::
- Brewer’s Britain and Ireland. London: Cassell, 2005. s.v. “Sunderland,” http://www.credoreference.com/entry/6031708/ (accessed October 23, 2008).
- Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (17th ed). London: Cassell, 2005. s.v. “Bête noire,” http://www.credoreference.com/entry/6745011/ (accessed October 23, 2008).
- Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (17th ed). London: Cassell, 2005. s.v. “Cat,” http://www.credoreference.com/entry/6745750/ (accessed October 23, 2008).
- Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained. London: Chambers Harrap, 2007. s.v. “cats,” http://www.credoreference.com/entry/7223297/ (accessed October 23, 2008).
- Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained. London: Chambers Harrap, 2007. s.v. “Friday the 13th,” http://www.credoreference.com/entry/7223620/ (accessed October 23, 2008).
- The Macquarie Dictionary. South Yarra: The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd., 2003. s.v. “apantomancy,” http://www.credoreference.com/entry/5447831/ (accessed October 23, 2008).
Recalcitrant (L’amour de l’étymologie VI)
It’s been ages since the last installment of L’amour de l’étymologie, a feature here at Librari[d]an exploring the etymology of English words. Today’s definition is recalcitrant, one of my favorite states of being! You can find this word used as an adjective or noun, or as recalcitrance, recalcitrate, and recalcitration. Listen to the pronunciation at Webster.com.
Recalcitrant’s first use in print was in The Confessions of Fitz-Boodle by William Makepeace Thackeray, published in Fraiser’s magazine in 1843. (Most awesome middle/surname ever? I’m thinking yes.) The word came to English from French (récalcitrant) or Latin (recalcitrant-, the present participle of recalcitrare). The Latin root literally means “to kick out” (as used in Horace), but was also used figuratively, meaning “to be refractory”, in Vulgate.
When used as an adjective, recalcitrant means:
- ‘Kicking’ against constraint or restriction; obstinately disobedient or refractory. (Said of person or animals, and transf. of things.) Also const. to.
- Characterized by refractoriness. [Stubborn, obstinate, perverse; unmanageable, rebellious.]
So someone might be recalcitrant (in general), just have a recalcitrant temper, or have an object or animal that they would like to personify or anthropomorphize as recalcitrant. (Such as my demoniac ice maker, for example, which simply refuses to stop producing cubes when the reservoir is full!)
As a noun the word simply means a recalcitrant person or thing. (“Look at that odious, malfunctioning ice maker. I wish I could light the recalcitrant on fire with my mind!”)
Recalcitrant is a great word because it suggests a very active sort of defiance while not (at least historically) being associated with childishness.
:: Bibliography ::
- “Recalcitrant.” Oxford English Dictionary. 30 August 2008 http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/findword?query_type=word&queryword=recalcitrant&find.x=0&find.y=0&find=Find+word
- “Refractory.” Oxford English Dictionary. 30 August 2008 http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/findword?query_type=word&queryword=refractory&find.x=0&find.y=0&find=Find+word
Petites Madeleines: A Brief History, Etymology, and FAQ
Petites madeleines have had quite a mystique built up around them over the centuries. Before baking these “little shell[s] made of cake, so fatly sensual within [... their] severe and pious pleating” in an installment of Obscene Cuisine, let’s address the myths and legends that surround these delectables. (Proust 47)
What are madeleines?
Madeleines are distinguishable by their iconic shell shape and are most accurately described as cakes. (Montagné 642) The first recorded name of the delicacy, in 1767, points to this fact: gâteaux à la Madeleine (French for “cake in the manner of Madeleine”). (Oxford English Dictionary) They have often been erroneously described in English using the American term “cookie”, although anyone familiar with both would abhor describing madeleines as such.
The ingredients used to make madeleines traditionally include sugar, flour, butter, and eggs. They may be flavored with lemon or, less commonly, orange-flower water. (Montagné 642) Variant recipes often include almonds, either pureed or as a flour. The taste of a madeleine should be light and buttery. They are “best eaten fresh from the oven, while the inside is moist and warm and the exterior exquisitely crisp.” (The New Food Lover’s Companion)
British madeleines may be “baked in a dariole mould, coated with jam, dredged with desiccated coconut and decorated with a glacé cherry and angelica.” (International Dictionary of Food and Cooking) While they may or may not use a madeleine recipe as the base, they certainly will not look or taste like traditional French madeleines.
Who created these delicious baked goods?
There is no definitive answer to who created madeleines. One widespread theory, originating with Grimaud de la Reynière, is that Madeleine Paulmier, a 19th-century French cordon-bleu cook, created them for her rich employer in Commercy. (Oxford English Dictionary) However, both the OED and Larousse gastronomique identify this attribution as highly dubious (the former citing the Trésor de la Langue Française, a French etymological dictionary, for further information). Other theories on the cake’s origins:
It has been attributed to Avice, Talleyrand’s chef, who had the idea of baking a pound-cake mixture in aspic moulds. Other authorities, however, believe that the recipe is much older and originated in Commercy, a town in Lorraine, which was then a duchy under the rule of Stanislaw Leszczynski. It is said that during a visit to the castle in 1755 the duke was very taken with a cake made by a peasant girl named Madeleine. This started the fashion for ‘madeleines’ (as they were named by the duke), which were then launched in Versailles by his daughter Marie, who was married to Louis XV. (Montagné 642)
What is the difference between a madeleine and a petite madeleine?
There isn’t one; the terms are used interchangeably. Petite madeleine just means “small madeleine” in French. Historical or literary sources are more likely to describe the food as petites madeleines.
What is the madeleine’s connection to Marcel Proust’s masterwork, In Search of Lost Time?
The word madeleine, with “reference or allusion to Proust’s use”, has come to mean “something that strongly evokes memories or nostalgia”. (Oxford English Dictionary) This use first occurred in print in 1939, and continues to the present day. (Oxford English Dictionary)
In the first volume of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, Swann’s Way, the narrator famously dips a madeleine in his tea. The taste evokes a gripping, brief memory that he struggles to place. With effort he identifies it in his childhood:
And suddenly the memory appeared. That taste was the taste of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray [...], my aunt Léonie would give me after dipping it in her infusion of tea or lime blossom.” (Proust 47)
This instance of “involuntary memory”, the idea that sensory perceptions can evoke powerful memories, is the most widely known episode in the novel. Proust explores this theory of memory throughout his novel; the theme eventually culminates in the final volume, Time Regained.
Proust originally conceived of the memory-evoking baked good as toast, rather than a madeleine. (Levin)
What type and size of mold/tin/pan should I use? Can both sides of a madeleine have patterning?
You have three choices for molds: traditional metal, non-stick, and silicone. I have heard various complaints about non-stick and silicone molds in terms of healthfulness, taste, and performance. I decided to play it safe and bought old-fashioned metal; when such pans are prepared correctly I don’t have any problem with sticking. I haven’t baked extensively with non-stick molds and have never used silicone, so I can’t speak to the validity of the complaints about them.
Madeleine molds are usually struck with either large (12 madeleines per pan) or small (20 madeleines per pan) indentations. I prefer the more substantial size, although there is a certain charm to the bite-sized ones. I bought both sizes, not only to see which one I would prefer, but also because the difference in scale provides visual interest for a finished batch.
Typically, madeleines will only have one decorative, fluted side with the other left plain. This is true of almost all madeleines, including those sold in Commercy as archetypal madeleines. However, according to the International Dictionary of Food and Cooking, double-sided madeleine molds do exist. They have a hinge, and completely enclose the cake, resulting in a symmetrical shell-shaped dainty. To be honest, I have never seen or heard of such a mold anywhere else in my research.
Should my madeleines have bumps?
A “bump” or “hump” in a madeleine is an example of crowning on a small scale. It’s when, on the non-scallop side of a madeleine, expanding gas in the batter forms a small bump. Crowning in madeleines most often occurs when a recipe includes baking powder. According to Lisa crowning can also be attributed to too much flour in a recipe or overbeating of the batter.
Whether you want your madeleines to have a bump is an aesthetic choice tied to a more important gastronomic one: Baking powder will change the consistency of madeleines, making them rise and resulting in a lighter and softer cake. If you want a denser cake, leave it out. (If you do include baking powder, David Lebovitz recommends Rumford-brand. Unlike more common brands, it has no aluminum, preventing a tinny aftertaste.) I wouldn’t worry about whether or not your madeleines have a bump. However, for those perfectionists who want to replicate French madeleines as exactly as possible, Commercy madeleines have bumps.
Should I use “beurre noisette” to make madeleines?
Beurre noisette (literally “nut butter” in French, known as “hazelnut butter” or “brown butter” in English) is a reduction of butter. You can make it by cooking regular butter (unsalted, in the case of madeleines) over low heat, causing it to separate and brown. The amount of time required may vary widely depending on your stove and the quality of butter. After separating, the butter can be strained to remove solids, cooled, and then folded into madeleine batter. (If cooled completely, beurre noisette will become solid.)
Beurre noisette has a richer, all-around more flavorful taste than regular butter. Unless you’re impatient, I would recommend using it in madeleine recipes.
:: Bibliography ::
-
Levin, Edmund. “How much did Proust know about madeleines?” Slate.com, 11 May 2005. http://www.slate.com/id/2118443/ (4 August 2008).
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Madeleine. (2001). In The New Food Lover’s Companion, Barron’s. Retrieved May 08, 2008 from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/5067501
- Madeleine. (2008). In Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved August 4, 2008 from http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/findword?query_type=word&queryword=madeleine&find.x=0&find.y=0&find=Find+word
- Madeleine mould. (1998). In International Dictionary of Food and Cooking, Peter Collin Publishing. Retrieved May 08, 2008, from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/1357775
- Montagné, P., & Lang, J. H. (1988). Larousse gastronomique: the new American edition of the world’s greatest culinary encyclopedia. New York: Crown. ISBN: 0517570327. Pages 642/3.
- Proust, Marcel. Translated by Lydia Davis. Swann’s Way. New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, 2004. ISBN: 0142437964. Page 47.
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