groseille (French)
Where does "groseille" come from?
The French noun 'groseille', which refers to a 'redcurrant' or 'gooseberry'[1], traces its history back to the Old French form 'grosele' attested in the 13th century[1]. This term likely stems from a Proto-West Germanic root '*krōsilā'[1]. The word is linked to other Germanic expressions for similar berries, such as the Luxembourgish 'Kréischel' and the Dutch 'kruisbes'[1]. It is also potentially related to the Germanic term '*krūs', which means 'curly' or 'frizzy'[1].
Open questions
- The connection between the reconstructed Proto-West Germanic form and the meaning of curly or frizzy is considered a possibility rather than a confirmed derivation. [1]
Full etymology tree
- groseille (French), 'redcurrant'
- inherited grosele (Old French)
- inherited *krōsilā (Proto-West Germanic)
- inherited *krūs (Proto-West Germanic)
- inherited *krōsilā (Proto-West Germanic)
- inherited grosele (Old French)
Cognates and doublets
- kruisbes (Dutch)
- Kréischel (Luxembourgish)
- gurzale (Walloon)
Descendants and derived words
- groseille à maquereau (French)
- groseille blanche (French)
- groseille de Chine (French)
- groseille rouge (French)
- groseillier (French)
Sources
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris