codling

Feb. 5th, 2013 07:16 am
prettygoodword: text: words are sexy (words are sexy)
[personal profile] prettygoodword
codling (KOD-ling) - n., a small immature apple; any of several varieties of elongated green apples used for cooking; a small cod.


Ignoring the fish for now, as that's really a separate word formed by a straight diminutive, this was originally (in the 14th century) querdling, after which everyone seems to have a different story. Most likely, it's a diminutive querd, but no one knows what that might be -- most inventively, someone unsourced suggests Anglo-Norman *querdelion, lionheart, as in cuer, heart + de, of + lion, lion, but what that might have to do with anything is not explained.

---L.

Date: 2013-02-05 06:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thistleingrey.livejournal.com
neat.
OED2 (1891) isn't sure of the codling-querdling link, which for me makes this bafflement even cooler.

Date: 2013-02-05 06:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com
That -- huh. You're right, that only deepens the interest.

---L.

Date: 2013-02-05 06:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] prettygoodword.livejournal.com
BTW, I should probably mention that I was introduced to this word in a Flower Fairies fanfic (http://archiveofourown.org/works/607500).

---L.

Date: 2013-02-07 05:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] movingfinger.livejournal.com
The qu- hints strongly (to me) of a German connection, as with Quitten, Quetschen, usw.

Date: 2013-02-07 02:12 pm (UTC)

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