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Origin and history of tulip

tulip(n.)

well-known garden plant blooming in spring with highly colored inverted-bell-shaped flowers, 1570s, via Dutch or German tulpe, French tulipe "a tulip" (16c.), all ultimately from Turkish tülbent "turban," also "gauze, muslin," from Persian dulband "turban;" so called from the fancied resemblance of the flower to a turban.

Introduced from Turkey to Europe, where the earliest known instance of a tulip flowering in cultivation is 1559 in the garden of Johann Heinrich Herwart in Augsburg; popularized in Holland after 1587 by Clusius. The full form of the Turkish word is represented in Italian tulipano, Spanish tulipan, but the -an tended to drop in Germanic languages, where it was mistaken for a suffix.

The tulip tree (1705), a towering North American magnolia, is so called from its tulip-shaped flowers. The wood, tulip-wood (1843), was used by cabinet-makers.

also from 1570s

Entries linking to tulip

tulipomania(n.)

"craze for the cultivation or buying of tulip bulbs," especially that raging among all classes in Holland in 1630s, in which many were ruined; 1710, from tulip + mania, with connective vowel, and compare French tulipomane. The Dutch term was tulpenhandel. Related: Tulipomaniac.

turban(n.)

1560s, "distinctive headdress of men in Muslim nations, consisting of a scarf or shawl wound around a cap," from French turbant (15c.), from Italian turbante (Old Italian tolipante), from Turkish tülbent "gauze, muslin, tulle," from Persian dulband "turban."

Tulip is the same word. According to OED (1989) the change of -l- to -r- may have taken place in Portuguese India and subsequently spread to other European languages. Resemblance to Latin turbo "spinning top, that which whirls" appears coincidental but might have encouraged the form in the European words.

A men's headdress in Muslim lands, a modification of this was popular in Europe and America c. 1776-1800 as a ladies' fashion and revived from time to time and sometimes used in reference to head coverings of Black women in the U.S. South and West Indies. Related: Turbaned.

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    Trends of tulip

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    tree
    Old English treo, treow "tree" (also "timber, wood, beam, log, stake"), from Proto-Germanic *trewam (source also of Old Frisian tre, Old Saxon trio, Old Norse tre, Gothic triu "tree"), from PIE *drew-o-, suffixed variant form of root *deru- "be firm, solid, steadfast," with speci
    knockoff
    also knock-off, "cheap imitation," 1966, from the verbal phrase knock off "do hastily" (1817), in reference to the casual way the things are made. The verbal phrase knock off is attested from 1640s as "desist, stop" (work, study, etc.), hence knockoff (n.) "act of leaving work" (
    intrinsic
    late 15c., "interior, inward, internal," from Old French intrinsèque "inner" (14c.), from Medieval Latin intrinsecus "interior, internal," from Latin intrinsecus (adv.) "inwardly, on the inside," from intra "within" (see intra-) + secus "along, alongside," from PIE *sekw-os- "fol
    obsess
    c. 1500, "to besiege" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin obsessus, past participle of obsidere "watch closely; besiege, occupy; stay, remain, abide" literally "sit opposite to," from ob "against" (see ob-) + sedere "to sit," from PIE root *sed- (1) "to sit." Of evil spirits, "to
    poignant
    late 14c., poinaunt, "painful to physical or mental feeling" (of sauce, spice, wine as well as things that affect the feelings), from Old French poignant "sharp, pointed" (13c.), present participle of poindre "to prick, sting," from Latin pungere "to prick, pierce, sting," figura
    Vatican
    1550s, from Latin mons Vaticanus, Roman hill on which Papal palace stands. By Klein's sources said to be an Etruscan loan-word and unrelated to vates "soothsayer, prophet, seer" (see vates), but most others seem to think it is related, on the notion of "hill of prophecy" (compare
    chaos
    late 14c., "gaping void; empty, immeasurable space," from Old French chaos (14c.) or directly from Latin chaos, from Greek khaos "abyss, that which gapes wide open, that which is vast and empty" (from *khnwos, from PIE root *ghieh- "to yawn, gape, be wide open"). The meaning "utt
    satire
    c. 1500, "a literary work (originally in verse) intended to ridicule prevailing vice or folly by scornful or contemptuous expression," from French satire (14c.) and directly from Latin satira "satire; poetic medley," earlier satura, in lanx satura "mixed dish, dish filled with va
    solace
    "comfort in grief; that which brings consolation," c. 1300, solas, from Old French solaz "pleasure, entertainment, enjoyment; solace, comfort," from Latin solacium "a soothing, assuaging; comfort, consolation," from solatus, past participle of solari "to console, soothe," from a
    religion
    c. 1200, religioun, "state of life bound by monastic vows," also "action or conduct indicating a belief in a divine power and reverence for and desire to please it," from Anglo-French religiun (11c.), Old French religion, relegion "piety, devotion; religious community," and direc

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