tulip (English)
Where does "tulip" come from?
The English word 'tulip' was borrowed from French 'tulipe', which developed from the earlier form 'tulipan'[1]. French acquired the term from Ottoman Turkish 'tülbent' or 'dülbent', meaning 'cheesecloth'[1], which in turn came from Classical Persian 'dulband', meaning 'turban'[1]. In Persian, 'dulband' originated as a compound of 'del' ('heart') and 'band', related to the verb 'bastan' ('to bind')[3][5][6]. These elements trace back to Proto-Indo-European '*ḱḗr' ('heart') and '*bʰendʰ-' ('to bind')[4][5].
Open questions
- The earliest ancestral components of the Persian compound are reconstructed Proto-Indo-European roots. [4] [5]
Full etymology tree
- tulip (English), 'A type of flowering plant, genus Tulipa.'
- derived tulipe (French), 'tulip'
- derived tulipan (French)
- borrowed دلبند (tülbent) (Ottoman Turkish), 'muslin, any of several varieties of thin cotton cloth'
- borrowed دلبند (dulband) (Classical Persian)
- compound دل (del) (Classical Persian)
- inherited 𐭣𐭩𐭫 (dil) (Middle Persian)
- inherited *jā́rd (Proto-Iranian), 'heart'
- inherited *ȷ́ʰā́rd (Proto-Indo-Iranian), 'heart'
- inherited *ḱḗr (Proto-Indo-European), 'heart'
- inherited *ȷ́ʰā́rd (Proto-Indo-Iranian), 'heart'
- inherited *jā́rd (Proto-Iranian), 'heart'
- inherited 𐭣𐭩𐭫 (dil) (Middle Persian)
- compound بند (band-) (Classical Persian)
- inherited *bandah (Old Persian)
- inherited *bandáh (Proto-Iranian)
- inherited *bʰandʰás (Proto-Indo-Iranian)
- inherited *bʰendʰ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to bind'
- inherited *bʰandʰás (Proto-Indo-Iranian)
- inherited *bandáh (Proto-Iranian)
- inherited *bandah (Old Persian)
- compound دل (del) (Classical Persian)
- borrowed دلبند (dulband) (Classical Persian)
- borrowed دلبند (tülbent) (Ottoman Turkish), 'muslin, any of several varieties of thin cotton cloth'
- derived tulipan (French)
- derived tulipe (French), 'tulip'
Ancestors
- *ḱerd- (Proto-Indo-European)
- *bʰendʰ- (Proto-Indo-European)
- tulipe (French)
- دلبند (Ottoman Turkish)
- دلبند (Persian)
Cognates and doublets
- turban (English)
Descendants and derived words
- tulip-breaking virus (English)
- tulip bulb (English)
- tulip-eared (English)
- tulip glass (English)
- tulip-like (English)
- tulip mania (English)
- tulip poplar (English)
- tulip root (English)
- tulip shell (English)
- tulip snail (English)
- tulip tree (English)
- チューリップ (Japanese)
Sources
- tulip (English) - Wiktionary
- دلبند (tülbent) (Ottoman Turkish) - Wiktionary
- دلبند (Persian) - Wiktionary
- دل (Persian) - Wiktionary
- بند (Persian) - Wiktionary
- بستن (Persian) - Wiktionary
Updated September 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris