pomme de terre

French

Potato var. Linda HC1

Etymology

Literally, “apple of [the] earth”. The word pomme used to mean "fruit" in Old French. The French construction originated, as calques, Dutch aardappel, Icelandic jarðepli, Persian سیب‌زمینی (sib-zamini), Modern Hebrew תפוח אדמה (tapúakh adamá), the rare English earthapple, German Erdapfel, etc.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɔm də tɛʁ/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

pomme de terre f (plural pommes de terre)

1. potato (Solanum tuberosum)

   Synonyms: (informal) patate, (abbreviation) PDT

Derived terms

• pomme de terre rissolée (“home fries”)

Descendants

• → German: Erdapfel (calque)
• → Persian: سیب زمینی (calque)
• → Hebrew: תפוח אדמה (calque)

Further reading

• “pomme de terre”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.