ciguë

See also: cigüe

French

Alternative forms

cigüe (post-1990 spelling)

Etymology

Inherited from Old French sigue, cegue (13th c.), variant of cëue (12th c.), inherited from Latin cicūta. Irregular preservation or restoration of -g- < Latin -c- (as in aigre, aigu, égal etc.) may be due to southern Gallo-Romance influence, partial relatinisation, and/or the general desire for a fuller phonetic form.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /si.ɡy/
Audio: (file)

Noun

ciguë f (countable and uncountable, plural ciguës)

hemlock (umbellifer)

References

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