What does this expression mean?  Seen in a list of 13th century French
names; e.g.,  Marguerite la lavendière.  Not in paper or online
dictionaries that I have checked, nor have I been able to figure it
out from French-language pages where it occurs.  At a not-too-wild
guess, something to do with lavender, but what?--seller? gatherer?
fabric dyer?

Thank you
Archae0pteryx

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Request for Question Clarification by answerfinder-ga on 12 Jan 2006 00:58 PST

Dear archae0pteryx-ga,

I think this may be answer, but have a look and see what you think as
it is a slightly different spelling. It does corroborates markvmd-ga.

http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/paris.html
Is an ?Index to the Given Names in the 1292 Census of Paris? and under
the letter ?M? is the name ?Marguerite la lavendière?.


On the same site is an ?Occupational By-Names in the 1292 Tax Role of
Paris? and goes to explain how names were used during this period.
Lavandiere (note slightly different spelling) is a laundry worker.
http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/parisbynames.html

So is it Marguerite the laundry worker or washerwoman?

Other references under the different spelling:
La lavandière - Washer woman
http://www.beyond.fr/themes/santoncharac.html

"Catherine Ségurane is a symbolic historical figure in the city of
Nice, which has named one of its streets (where the antique shops are
to be found) after this famous washer-woman or Lavandière."
http://www.wcities.com/en/record/,91096/17/record.html

Other references
://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=%22Lavandi%C3%A8re%22+washer&btnG=Search&meta=

 
answerfinder-ga

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Clarification of Question by archae0pteryx-ga on 16 Jan 2006 21:19 PST

Hello, answerfinder.  Yes, that is exactly the list I was referring to
in the first line of my question:  that's where I got the name.  And
shame on me for not finding that list of bynames myself.  I should
never have had to ask.  But of the online instances from which I could
extract information, at least half had something to do with lavender. 
Now I am wonedring whether there is in fact a common root there and
what the two words have to do with one another.

Oddly, I found the same thing when I tried searching on your alternate
spelling of lavandière:  many of the pages referred to lavender or
lavender fields.  (Actually, I did hypothesize "washerwoman" straight
off; but it did not make sense to me that the word for "washerwoman"
could not be found in a French dictionary.  If I'd seen the second
spelling first, I'd have pursued that possibility harder.)

So you have the answer, there's no denying that, and you're certainly
entitled to post it.  My thanks for your help.

Thanks for your comments, too, markvmd and geof.

Archae0pteryx

I only took French for part of a semester (don't ask; it involved a
girl) but lived in Spain, Mexico and Puerto Rico so Spanish is more my
bag. The first thing I thought of was a washer-woman, a launderess.

Near the top of the first website quoted by answerfinder above (ie the
1292 list of names) there is a link to a list of "occupational
by-names" where lavandier (masculine) and lavandiere (feminine) are
translated as "laundry worker". It was common in bygone days for
people with a common name (such as Marguerite)to be distinguished by
adding their occupation to their name.However, as far as I can
understand it, the introduction to the list of by-names seems to be
saying that these by-names were not necessarily the occupastions of
the individuals concerned, but in some cases were akin to a family
name, or surname. So this particular Marguerite may, or may not, have
been a washerwoman.

Hi Tryx,
Etymonline does relate the two words:
Lavender Look up lavender at Dictionary.com
    c.1265, "fragrant plant of the mint family," from Anglo-Fr.
lavendre, from M.L. lavendula "lavender" (10c.), perhaps from L.
lividus "bluish, livid." Associated with Fr. lavande, It. lavanda "a
washing" (from L. lavare "to wash") because it was used to scent
washed fabrics and as a bath perfume. The meaning "pale purple color"
is from 1840.

Regards, Myoarin