ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE

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ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE

FRENCH LANGUAGE

EoiiDon

MACMILLAN AND

CO.

PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF

AN

ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE

FRENCH LANGUAGE '•' •

Jbv'

A^BRACHET AUTHOR OF *A HISTORICAL GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH TONGUE'

TRANSLATED BY G.

W.

KITCHIN,

M.A.

AT THE CLARENDON PRESS M DCCC LXXIII

[All rights reserved}

4

AUTHOR'S PREFACE This Etymological Dictionary is the natural sequel to the HisGrammar. In that work I had traced out the history of French grammatical forms with a view to the completion of my task, and the full cycle of the history of the language, I was bound torical

:

its vocabulary. This is attempted in this volume, which seeks to register for general use the results of philological enquiry, hitherto too much confined to a narrow circle of

to write also a history of

literary

men.

not that philological enquiry has been lacking in France during the last three centuries. In the anarchical period of philology the period between the sixteenth century and our day, during which philology was little but a confused mass of erudite errors two etymological Dictionaries were written, that of Manage in 1650, and that of Roquefort in 1829. Seven years later the illustrious Frederick Diez pubHshed at Bonn the first volume of his Grammar of the Rornance Languages (1836), a comparative history of the six languages which have sprung from the Latin, in which he showed by what invariable laws Latin passed into French, Italian, Spanish, Portugese, Wallachian; at the same moment he created a scientific history of the French tongue. Thenceforth French philology was revolutionised and, just as in the eighteenth century chemistry shook itself free from alchemy, so then the study of the French language became a science based on observation^ the progress of which was destined to be very rapid, under the influence of a spirit of exact investigation the latest born of experimental sciences, it seemed likely to outstrip them all, except chemistry, in the rapidity and unbroken succession of its discoveries. Every new result is enrolled in its order in the three etymological Dictionaries which followed one another at intervals: in 18^'^ Diez ipuhlished his I^/ymologi'sc/ier Worterbuch; in 1862 appeared M. Scheler's Dictionary of French Etymology; in 1863 the first parts of M. Littre's admirable Dictionary of the French It

is

—

—

;

:

Tongue came

out.

^ It is but fair to say that a Frenchman, M. Raynouard, had already prepared the way by a comparative study of the six Neo-Latin tongues still to M. Diez belongs the honour of having created the science by introducing into French philology an exactitude quite unknown before his time. ;

iVVt90209

author's preface. all the philological discoveries made years in the French language ; and the chasm which separates them from the dreams of Manage and Roquefort can only be compared to that which lies between the chemistry of Lavoisier

These three works give us

during the

last thirty

and the reveries of Raymond LuUi, or Van Helmont. It may therefore seem needless to wish to swell the catalogue with a new philological Dictionary but still I have decided on writing this book for there is a blank to be filled up. In scientific subjects there is always room for two kinds of books those which teach established scientific knowledge and transmit our learned acquisitions in a collective form, and those which leave former discoveries alone, in order to attempt new research, to work out the solution or the discussion of problems hitherto untouched. Thus, in zoology, a treatise intended for the general public would be silent as to all doubtful or unsettled questions (such as the origin of species, or the like), and would occupy itself solely with the minute proof of established truths but if on the other hand the treatise were addressed to the narrower class of professed naturalists, it would be satisfied with simply stating known facts (assuming their proof to be known by the reader) and would set itself specially to elucidate by new observations or hypotheses those problems which were yet uncertain. This distinction applies with equal force to etymological Dictionaries, ;

;

—

:

according as they address themselves to students of philology only or to the general literary public in the former case the main task of the author will be to attempt unsolved etymological problems, simply stating established etymologies without stopping to give the proofs. This has been done by Diez, Scheler, and Littr^, who have been more anxious to discover or explore unknown regions than to descril2£_the^^nown. But by the side of these works, which assume in the reader a previous acquaintance with philological principles and a knowledge of the position of each question that comes up, there is room for another Dictionary which shall take the science in its present condition, shall provisionally regard the etymology of all words :

whose

is still under discussion as unknown, shall limit itself statement of etymologies already settled, and shall then lay before the eyes of the reader all the philological principles on which these interesting results depend. Of such a kind is this manual of the science of etymology which I have endeavoured to make, in the full persuasion that, imperfect as it is, it may yet render some service to the cause of higher education^.

to

M.

Breal, Professor in the College of France, has admirably pointed out the ' a method which professes to explain everything, and does not know how to resign itself to be ignorant of many things.' For education nothing is so mischievous to the authority of a science as an inconclusive discussion. ^

/j

origin

the

dangers of

/ ^^ /':

i

;

'

AUTHORS PREFACE, As an example of the difference between the two methods, let The etymology of us take the two words marcassin and pourrir. marcassin is unknown and while Diez and Littrd discuss the hypotheses already started as to the origin of the word, and throw out new suggestions, I content myself with the simple statement that here is a blank in our knowledge, and so I leave it. For in education uncerin dubiis abstine tainty is worse than ignorance, and the maxim But under the word pourrir, whose etymology finds its application. [l(from Lat. putrere) is well known, Littrd and Scheler merely but in my [Imention the Latin word, and do not stop to explain [•JDictionary I set myself to prove it, and to show how putrere becomes \pourrir, in answer to the questions, Why such and such a change? or Is there any ;Have the Latin letters been altered by chance Has putrere become pourrir all at once, invariable law of change or have there been successive changes, letter by letter? and can one fix questions the steps of the process in their chronological order ^? which a Dictionary professing to teach laymen (as the Germans would say) the science of etymology cannot possibly neglect. Scientific etymology,' says M. Brdal, does not consist in a vague statement of the affinity which may exist between two words ; it must track out, letter by letter, the history of the formation of a word, and show all the intermediate stages through which it has passed.' Thus, in the example taken above, one must show that the u of putrere has passed into on {pourrir), like ursus, ours\ surdus, sourd; turris, tour; that the Latin tr becomes rr, like latronem, hirron; nutrire, nqurrir lastly, that the long e of putrere is represented by the French i, like tenere, ienir ; abolere, abolir, &c. The philologer, when he has reached this point, has done but half his work ; he has shown that pourrir answers, letter for letter, to putrere ; he must now show how this change has come about we have as yet only the end-links of the chain, we must find the intermediate and connecting ones. Between the grub and the butterfly the naturahst studies all the different conditions of the chrysalis ; between the Latin and the French we find, on the one side the Low Latin, on the other the Early French. Thus pourrir has not leapt at one bound from putrere Latin MSS. of the Merovingian period show us that the word became first putrire, then pudrire ; whence the earliest French form podrir, whence follows porrir, and lastly pourrir. By what slow and almost insensible changes has the Latin word slipped into ;

'

;

.?

.?

—

'

'

'

'

'

—

—

:

:

^ Our remarks on the three Dictionaries of Diez, Littre, and Scheler, must not be taken to indicate any want of esteem for such admirable works. Far from challenging their method I seek only to support it by supplementing it methods must vary according to the end proposed, the audience addressed. Let me seize this opportunity of expressing my hearty gratitude for the advantages I owe to these masters in the science of etymology, and to their labours. ;

author's preface,

—

tr has been successively softened into dr, thence into rr passes through o into ou ; and, as one can prove by the steps taken, the Latin word has never accomplished more than one of these changes at a time. Thus penetrating by means of a strict analysis into the innermost organisation of language, one sees that living words change and grow, and that Latin and French, for example, are in reality only two successive conditions of one language. By patient study, by careful comparison of thousands of little facts, insignificant by themselves, etymological science has been able to prove that languages, like plants or animals, are born, grow, and die, according to definite determinable laws. This fact saves us from the reproach of lingering over petty details. Every building raised on abstract ideas,' says Buflfon, in his noble language, is a temple dedicated to a lie.' It is high time that men should abandon metaphysical speculations as to the origin of human speech, and betake themselves to the humbler observation of facts for they alone can lead us on to a just conception of the laws of language and one may apply to them the saying of Quinctilian, Parva quidem, sed sine quibus magna non possent consistere,' these are but details indeed, yet without them general principles could not stand.

French

!

u

*

'

:

;

'

—

A. B.

VOUVRAY, September

3,

1868.

CONTENTS, INTRODUCTION. BOOK

Of the Rules to

I.

Chap.

i.

ii.

iii.

iv.

V.

BOOK

m

History

iv

Comparison

vi

Variations of meaning

ix

xiv

Conclusion

Etymological Elements of the pRENcri Tongue

II,

Part

be followed in Etymological investigations

Phonetics

I,

Elements of Popular Origin

Chap.

i.

ii.

iii.

iv.

xvi xvii

The Latin element The Celtic element The Germanic element The Greek element

xvii

xix xxii

.

xxiv

Part

ii.

Elements of Learned Origin

XXV

Part

hi.

Elements of Foreign Origin

xxvii

Chap.

i.

ii.

iii.

iv.

v.

vi. vii. viii.

ix.

Part

rv.

Words of Provengal origin Words of Italian origin Words of Spanish origin Words of German origin Words of English origin Words of Slavonic origin Words of Semitic origin Words of Oriental origin

xxix

XXX xxxiii

xxxiv

XXXV XXXV

XXXV xxxvii

XXX vii

W^ords of American origin

xxxvii

Elements of Various Origin

Chap.

i.

ii.

iii.

iv.

Words Words Words

xxxvii

of Historical origin

of Onomatopoetic origin

of

Unknown

Etymological

xxxix

origin

statistics of the

xxxviii

French Tongue

xli

CONTENTS,

BOOK

III.

"Part

i.

Description of Sounds

Chap.

i.

ii.

iii.

iv.

Part

n.

Part m.

....

Phonetics, or the Study of Sounds.

Exceptions

xlv

The Latin diphthongs The Latin consonants

iv.

.

rule the Permutations of

Phonetics.

Effect

of

Formation of the French Language

Part

.... .... ....

History of the Latin vowels

to

.

.

Language

Corruption

on

.

i.

French substantives derived from Latin sub-

ii.

French substantives derived from Latin adjec-

.

.

.

.

.

.

tives iii.

French substantives derived from Latin pre-

iv.

French substantives derived from Latin verbs

positions

Section

ii.

Derivation of adjectives

iii.

List of nominal suffixes

Chap.

i.

ii.

Section iv.

i.

ii.

Section v.

Accented Atonic

Verbal

Chap.

xcv

xcvii

ci

i.

stantives

Section

Ixxix

c

Derivation of substantives

Chap.

liii

Ixxvii

the

Derivation

Section

xlii xliii

The vowels

The Principles which

PAGE

suffixes

Accented Atonic

Diminutive

suffixes

List of Abbreviations

ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY

ci

cii

cii

cii

cvi cvii cvii

cxxii

cxxv cxxv

cxxv cxxvi ex. viii

1-376

INTRODUCTION. BOOK

I.

OF THE RULES TO BE FOLLOWED IN ETYMOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS. Axiomata a particularibus indicant

et

rite

et

ordine ahstracta nova particularia rursus facile

designant, itaque scientias reddunt activas.

—Bacon, Novum Organon,

i.

24.

§ 1. Etymology, which investigates the origin of words and the laws of the transformation of languages, is a new science. It is scarcely thirty years since it became one of the sciences of observation and the good work it has since done has speedily won for it among the historical sciences a place which it can never lose. Before attaining its present precision, etymology like every other science, and perhaps more than any other passed through a long period of infancy, of uncertain groping and effort, during which it ;

—

subsisted

chiefly

on

arbitrary

relations,

—

superficial

analogies,

and

fanciful combinations.

'One can scarcely imagine how arbitrary was the search for etymologies while it was solely an attempt to connect words at haphazard by their apparent resemblance, without any farther proof. The dreams of Plato's Cratylus, the absurd etymologies of Varro and Quinctilian, the philological fancies of Menage in the seventeenth century, are known to every one. There was no difficulty in connecting jeiine with Jeune, for youth is the morning of life, and one rises fasting. Most frequently one word was derived from another of an entirely different form, and to fill up the gap between them, fictitious intermediates were invented. Thus Menage derived rat from the Latin mus " They must have said, first mus, then muratus, then ratus, then rat!' Nay, farther, they went so far as to suppose that an object could derive its name from a quality the opposite of that which that name denoted, because affirmation provokes negation, and so, !

.

'f

b

INTRODUCTION.

i.

for instance, they affirmed that

lucus came from luoere, " quia non

lucet."'^

At last, the dreams of etymologists became proverbial, and this branch of human knowledge fell into utterrtiost discredit. How then has this confused heap of erudite error given place to an established science of etymology? Simply by the discovery and application of Comthe comparative method, the method of the natural sciences. *

Science is made up of parison is the chief instrument of science. general facts scientific knowledge is the formation of groups, the establishment of laws, consequently the separation of the general out Now, if we would compel facts to surrender to us of the particular. their inner meaning, we must draw them together, explain them by one another, in other words compare them. 'Every one knows something of the discoveries of comparative know how the study of the structure of animals, and anatomy. the comparison of organs, whose infinite modifications form the diiferentiae of class, order, genus, have revealed to us, so to speak, the plan of nature; have provided us with a solid foundation for our ;

We

classifications.'

^

Just so with languages also here also comparison is doubtless as ancient as observation; but there are two kinds of comparison, :

or rather, two degrees of comparison through which the pass in succession.

The

mind must

hasty and superficial comparison, which was omnidown to the end of the seventeenth it was satisfied with connecting beings or words by their superficial resemblances. Thus, naturalists called the dolphin and the § 2.

potent in century;

first is

all

physical sciences

by reason of their outer shape, their habits, their conand etymologists derived the word paresse from the Greek irapfais ^, because of all words they knew this was the one most like the French word, and they concluded, without any further proof, that this was the origin of paresse : an easy proof indeed These arbitrary comparisons have been succeeded in our own days by thoughtful and methodical comparison, an exact and scientific method one not satisfied with outer resemblances or differences, but seeking by careful dissection to penetrate to the essence and innermost analogies of things. The anatomist now studies the internal structure of the whale, and discerns that the conformation of its organs excludes it from the class of fishes, and places it among the mammals. And the philologist, instead of studying the mere outside of words, dissects them into their elements, their letters observes their origin, and the way in which whale

fishes,

stant living in the sea;

!

;

;

they are transformed. ^

*

M.

Reville, Les ancetres des europeens.

E. Soberer, Etudes d'histoire

et de critique,

^

See below, § 21.

H

PHONETICS.

"

by a

It is

strict

iii

new method, by following facts modern philology has proved that

application of this

instead of trying to lead them, that

is developed according to invariable laws, and follows in its transformations certain necessary rules. This book will lay out the principal characteristics of this natural history of language: it will be found that they furnish the etymologist with unexpected help, and are a valuable instrument, a powerful microscope for the observation of the most delicate

language

phenomena. § 3.

The instruments of

netics, History,

observation are three in

number

:

Pho-

Comparis.on.

CHAPTER

I.

Phonetics.

B

Take any

Latin letter, and ask what it has become in French soon see that the transition has followed a regular course, or, in other words, that each Latin letter passes into French in an invariable way thus e long usually becomes oi : as me, moi ; regem, roi; legem, loi; te, toi ; se, sot; tela, toile ; velum, voile: ea becomes che ; caballus, cheval ; ea^inus, chemin ; canile, chenil o becomes ou ; tormentum, tourment ; vos, vous ; nos, nous ; soricem, souris ; &c. We give the name of Phonetics ^ to the collection § 4.

you

will

:

of these laws of transformation. The bearings of this discovery are plain enough these laws of transformation once observed for each letter are a guiding line in investigation, and stop us if we are on a wrong track if the derivation does not satisfy the conditions of phonetic change, it is null and void. Thus then the knowledge of the sum total of these transformations from Latin to French letters^ is the first condition which must be fulfilled if we would busy ourselves with etymology. If any one thinks this preparatory study too minute or needless, we would remind him that anatomy observes and describes muscles, nerves, vessels, with most minute detail this vast collection of facts may seem dry and tiresome but yet, even as comparative anatomy is the basis of all physiology, so is the exact knowledge of phonetics the starting-point for all etymology from it alone the science gets its character of solidity and exactitude. ;

;

:

§ 5.

We may

then state this

new

principle as follows

:

— every

ety-

mology which does not, according to the rules of permutation laid down by phonetics, account for every letter kept, changed, or dropped, must be set aside as worthless. See below,

'

§ 37.

b2

Ibid. §§

46, sqq.

INTRODUCTION.

Iv

Taking this principle as our guide, let us look, for example, for the One sees at once that the letters if derivation of the word iai'/ue. represent the Latin ct, as is found \Xi fait from factus; lait from lactem fruit from fructus, &c. ;

first part of the word will answer to a Latin form the origin of the suffix -ue ? Now we can prove that this suffix comes from the Latin suffix -uca \ as in verr-ue, verr-uca Hence we arrive at the form lactuca, the charr-ue^ carr-uca, &c.

Thus then

lact

;

what

actual Latin

Thus

the

is

name

for a lettuce.

seen that the search for etymologies corresponds to When a substance is put into the researches in chemical analysis. crucible and reduced into its elements, the chemist ought to find those elements equivalent in weight to the original substance in this case the elements are the letters, and the analysis, that is, the etymology, is uncertain until all the elements are accounted for it

is

:

j^

To sum up

etymological research is subjected to two laws admissible unless it accounts for every one of the letters of the word which it professes to explain; (2) In every etymology which involves a change of letters we must be able to produce at least one example of a change thoroughly like the one suggested § 6. (i)

No

etymology

;

is

otherwise, so long as

etymology

is

no such example can be adduced, the attempted

valueless.

CHAPTER

n.

History.

D

§ 7. Every Latin word has undergone two successive changes in its descent to modern times it has passed out of Latin into Old French, out of Old French into Modern French festa became first feste, then fite. In searching for the origin of a French word it would be a great mistake to speculate on it in its present condition, and to leap at one bound back to the Latin we ought first to enquire whether any intgrni^ediateiprms exist in Old French which illustrate the transition and mark the patH thirougli which the Latin word has passed down to the present time. These intermediate steps lead us up to the point of departure, and enable us to see with greater distinctness, and even sometimes to discover without any further investigation, the original word from which our French word is derived. One example will explain clearly enough the difference which separates the old from the new etymological method: formerly etymologists were much divided in opinion as to the origin of the word dme : some, thinking only of the sense, derived the word from the :

:

:

*

See below, § 237.

HISTORY.

V

Latin anima, without being able to explain how the transformation was accomplished others, thinking this transformation from anima to The dme too harsh, derived it from the Gothic ahnia (breath). dispute would have still been unsettled had not modern philoSubstilogy intervened with the solution of the problem in its hand. ;

tuting for imagination the observation of facts,

down

modern

philologers

absurd to debate for ever over a word in its present form, without troubling oneself with the changes it has undergone since the first beginning of the language and so, reconstructing the history of this word by means of the study of early texts, they have shewn that in the thirteenth c^ntury,it was written ^^a^^ in the de^yenth aneme, in'lhe~tenth anime, a form which leads directly back to laid

it

that

it

is

;

"

anima.

'

~

We

can avoid mistakes only by observing step by step all the intermediate forms, so as to study the gradual transformation of the Latin word but even so, we ought to distinguish between two kinds of intermediates, those of the old and those of the new philological school. The first assumed at a venture a very dissimilar word as the origin of the word under enquiry, and then, in order to connect the two extremes, invented fictitious intermediates, which thus led them on to the point they wished to reach. Manage, for example, thought he found the origin of the word haricot in the Latin faba and, to fill up the blank between, he added, 'People must have said faba, then fabaricus, then fabaricotus, arieotus, haricot.' It is like a dream, to listen to such lucubrations they more than justified the laughter of ;

;

:

the wits, *

Alfana ^ vient ^equus sans doute, Mais il faut convenir aussi Qu'a venir de la jusqu'ici, II a bien change sur la route.'

§ 8. But the intermediates which modern etymology demands are of a different kind the science now no longer asks what people ought to have said, but what they did say. No more fanciful intermediates, invented as they were wanted It is enough to trace the word through French texts from the nineteenth to the tenth century. Modern etymology notes the first appearance of words, and observes their :

:

And is left to conjecture or invention. exact observation is a preliminary but indispensable portion of every etymological investigation: before passing on to the analysis of a French word in its present state, one must try to find as many examples as possible of the word in Old French.

changes age by age ; nothing this

^

is the name given by Ariosto to the steed of Gradasso. from equus. The epigram is by the Chevalier d'Aceilly.

Alfana

derives ^

it

Menage

INTRODUCTION.

vi

Thus, instead of inventing an arbitrary series of intermediates, we must collect under each word a series of examples taken from actual documents, running back to the very origin of the French language. These landmarks once established, we must go on to discover the etymology, starting from the word as it stood at the very birthplace of the language. Thus then the comparison of Old French with Modern French two successive states, in fact, of one language— is absolutely indispensable. How much better do we understand that modulare is the parent of motiler, when we see the intermediate steps— the Merovingian Latin modlare, the old French modler of the eleventh century, molle of the twelfth. This word becomes mouler by the same change of ol into need not ou, which we find in fou from fol, cou from col, &c.^

We

have any doubts as

to the

meaning of the word ddur/^oriQ who

—

will

when we have before us himself be deceived {leurre), the old form deleurre. In many cases we have lost the primitive form in use in Old French, and have retained the diminutive, as alouelte, moiiette, belette, whose primitives aloue, moue, bele, are gone. no longer

let

We

have no longer the old verbs lentir, freindre, penttr, oeuvrer, vergonder, bouter ; but we have their compounds, retentir, enfreindre, repentir, de'soeuvrer, devergonde\ de'bouti : and it is important that the etymologist should know all these forms, as, before we find the origin of a word, we are bound to reduce it to its simplest form.^

CHAPTER m. Comparison. § 9. When popular Latin gave birth to the French, it created four other sister languages, formed, like the French, with amazing regu-

^ The chief reason why the French language is so perfect a model for etymological study lies in the fact that these intermediary forms have an ascertained existence. learn from this birth and this development of the French language, in a historical age, well-known to us, how such languages as Latin and Greek (which are known only in their full age) came first into being. This enquiry into the development of languages, through the study of the French tongue, in which all the conditions required by the philologer are to be found, answers to the process in chemistry which is styled ' une experience en 'vase close.'' ^ Other examples of primitives lost in Modern French, but retained solely in their derivatives, are to be seen under the words accabler, beani, compagnon, corset, criance, dernier, doleance, effroi, emoi, engeance, finance, galant, herboriste, issue, laitance, mechant, mecreant, nuance, outrecuidance,

We

—

surean, &c.

—

COMPARISON.

—

vii

Italian, Spanish, Portuguese ;Mj Romance languages. Consequently, uf we must use comparison between the Romance forms and the French, as a touchstone by which to verify and confirm our hypoWe have, for instance, just shewn that laitue answers letter theses. larity

and

or, as

the

similarity

the Proven9al,

Germans would

for letter to lactuca.

say, the

If this

etymology is correct, the Italian lattuga, come from the same word, their sense

the Spanish lechuga, must also Hence being also the same.

the Spanish ch,

came from

we may

the Latin

ci,

gather that the ItaUan thus

noile from noctem ; otto, octo Italian whence lattuga = lactuca. tractus ; &c. ; :

//

and

:

—

;

biscotto,

biscoctus

;

tratto,

Spanish: noche from nocteia ; oc/io, octo; discocho, hiacoctus; irecho, whence lechuga = lactuca. tractus ; &c. ;

—

Thus one

sees

how

a comparison of the

Romance languages

the French confirms our'"pm[immary observations hypotheses. These comparisons have a farther use

and

verifies

with our

they often shew Between the Latin and the French the Romance tongues stand in the same relation of space as Old French does in relation of time router seems less distant from rotulare when the gap is filled up by the Proven9al rolar (early Prov. rotlar) and Chou is directly related to caulis, through old Italian rotolare. French chol, Spanish col, Proven9al caul between coude and cubitus,

us the route

we may

:

follow.

:

:

we find the Proven9al code, the old Spanish The stages between nourrir and nutrire are

cohdo, the Italian cubito.

filled up when one has passed through the three steps of Proven9al norrir, Catalan nudrir, If, on the other hand, we study the chronological Italian nutrire. sequence of the transformations of nutrire into the French language, we shall see that the word was nudrire in Merovingian Latin, nodrir in the eleventh century, norrir in the twelfth, nourrir in the thirteenth and thence we may conclude that it is a natural law of such developments, that the Romance languages off"er simultaneously to our sight, and, as it were, in living examples, the same series of linguistic degradations and dead forms that the French language sets before us at different periods in its history just as the globe shews us in different parts the successive formations on its surface, while at the same time we have those same beds ranged one under another in a vertical :

series.-^

§

10.

By

Romance languages, the great we have '"patois,'^vhich"are secondary

the side of thesejour

sions of the Latin tongue,

dividivi-

^ Other examples of the value of the comparison of Romance forms for French etymology may be found under the words courroucer, guere, pouj

tuer^ tuyaUj

&c.

^

INTRODUCTION.

viii

under each language. We have shewn elsewhere ^ that at first was no one literary language in France that, in the different districts, the Latin was broken up into a like number of dialects Norman, Burgundian, Picard, French (i.e. the dialect of the inhabitants of the He de France). We know by what succession of political events, by the conquests of the Dukes of France, and the successive augmentation of the royal domain, three of these dialects were ab-

/ sions

there

;

sorbed at last in the fourth, the French, which, as it rose to the rank of the one literary language, depressed the others into patois, at this day slowly dying out in the country districts. These patois are not, as is commonly thought, literary French corrupted in the mouth of peasants, but they are the remains of ancient provincial dialects, which, thanks to political events, have fallen from the position of official and literary languages to that of simple patois.^ The history of patois shews us their importance in the study of French etymology. Side by side with the fo ur Romance languag es, which form as it were four distinct colours, lie patois, filling up the intermediate spaces, and providing us with all the secondary and intermediate stages thus regarded they throw a very strong light on many words. The bivalve shell, called in Latin musculus, is moule in French. How can we connect these words together, without passing through the Norman patois moucle, then the Languedoc mouscle, which form the intermediate links ? One can understand th^l/resaie and praesaga are the same word by seeing the forms presaie in Poitou, and bresague in Gascony.^ Even exceptions or corruptions of language often find their explanation in patois. At the outset it would seem very strange that the Old French ombril (the navel),* from umbilicus, should have become novibril in or about the fifteenth century. But if we consider that the Old' French aim (a hook), from hamus, has become naim in the modern patois of Touraine, by an euphonic corruption of un-aim, into un naim, whence h naim, we shall find that we have a clear instance of the process which has converted un-ombril into un :

nombril,

^

111

le

nombril.

the Historical

Grammar

of the French 7ongue,-p. i8, sqq.

English

translation. ^ In the same way the Tuscan obtained the supremacy over all the other Italian dialects (the Milanese, Venetian, Neapolitan, Sicilian), which dropped into the position of patois; and in Spain also, the Navarrois, Andalusian, &c., gave place to the Castilian dialect, which became the literary language of the whole country. ^ For other examples of the value of patois in etymological research, see under the words coulis, godet, levis, nombril, &c. * Ombril is the form used in Froissart (?)

VARIATIONS OF MEANING.

ix

Thus one sees what manner of help etymology may expect to get from the comparative study of patois. The li nguist can. .also, verify in them, as also this fact, which appears in all the Romance languages in the patois, the Latin tongue becomes more dull and contracted the And thus the progress farther itjs removed in space from Latimn. of the Latin word is a kind of sensitive thermometer, which falls lower and lower as we^g^o^ northwards, by a series of slow and insensible degrees, not by a sudden leap or instantaneous change. :

CHAPTER

IV.

Variations of Meaning. § 11. Of the two elements which compose a word, its form and meaning, we have now considered the first, its form, in space and time,' as philosophers say in space by means of Phonetics and Comparison, in time by me ans of ..Hkt_Qry_._ But the knowledge of the history and changes of meaning in words is an indispensable instrumerifnT'the study of forms. In this branch of the subject we may study the history of the meaning either by following the changes in its own language, or by instituting a comparison, setting the word side by side with words of the same signification in other languages.

It

'

—

—

If we compare a number of French § 12. History of Meaning. words with the Latin words whence they have sprung, we soon see that most of them have changed in meaning as they have passed from Latin to French, and have not retained their original intensity aiiH power. Sometimes the meaning is wider carpentarius (a wheelWright) becomes charpentier (a carpenter); caballus (a nag) has risen

i

:

J

minare

guide a

or a flock) is menerl^ (to lead generally) ; villa ( = a farmstead, and then = a hamlet) be-j comes ville, a town.^ In other cases the sense is narrowed passing from general to particular ^jumentum (every kind of beast of burden)

to nobility in cheval ;

(to

cart,

:

\

—

becomes jument travels) is

^

(a

mare)

;

|

peregrinus (properly a stranger, one who

restricted in pelerin to travellers to the

Holy Land^ or

For other examples of expansion of sense see the words

ner, acerer, accorder, accoster,

agneau, alarme, alerte^

beugler, boucher, bourg, corbeille, corneille,

abonder, abonbdtard,

alter, arri-ver,

&c.

^ The Latin peregrinus (found in the form pelegrinus as e&rly as in the Inscriptions) had already taken the sense of 'pilgrim' in Low Latin. Thus Mapes, De Nugis Curialium, i. i8, has 'Miles quidam, a pago Burgundiae .... venit Jerusalem peregrinus.'

i

INTRODUCTION.

X

some

other holy place;

arista (fish-bone or ear of corn) has lost

second meaning in ar^fe (a fish-bone); carruca (a chariot) becomes an agricultural cart in charrue} Sometimes the abstract Latin word becomes concrete in French its

as punctionem (the act of pricking), tonsionem (the act of clipping), morsus (the act of biting), become poin^otiy lotson, mors (used of

nutritionem is the act of nourishing, and one who nourishes.^ Sometimes, on the other hand, a Latin concrete word becomes abstract or metaphorical in French thus ovicula (a sheep) has produced the word ouailles, which in French ecclesiastical speech is used of the flock of a spiritual pastor.^ It is clear that the French language, having before it the many rich and slightly different senses of the Latin word, takes one of its facets, regards it as if it were the only one, and thus givesTTrth to the modern signification.

horses' bites)

becomes

similarly

:

nourrisson,

:

§ 13. But these changes of meaning do not merely take place in the passage from Latin to French Consuetudo loquendi est in motu,' says Varro (De Ling. Lat. ix. 17); and if we were to confine ourselves to observing the history of the French tongue from the eleventh century to the present time, we should find, even in the heart of the language, many words whose sense has grown or shrunk as they have passed from Old to Modern French. Words formerly used in a noble or refined sense have fallen into the humblest and meanest condition thus pectus (the breast) kept its original sense when it passed into Old French ; and pis (from pectus, like lit from lectum, co7tfit from confectum) meant at first the breast or chest in feudal speech a man was said, in taking an oath, mettre la main au pis,' to lay his hand on his breast. The word has gradually been restricted and lowered to its present meaning. Mutare has become muer (so remutare, commutare are remuer, commuer). Muer, which had at first retained the whole energy of the Latin word (so Froissart says les dieux et les deesses muoient * les hommes en bestes '), presently was restricted to the moulting of :

*

:

;

'

:

'

For other examples of restriction of sense see the words ame, ampoule,

ancetre,

apothicaire, appeau, arche,

andouitle,

brouette, couper, ^

*

billon,

bdilan, botteux, brosse,

&C.

For other examples see

angelique, armee,

ablette, accessit, accoucher, aleruin,

artillerie, braire,

cannelle,

corset,

ambe, amble,

defense, dejeuner, diner,

ecluse, engin, fort, habit, hiver, jour, maison, meute, mallet, poison, printemps, quaterne, rouget, serre, su(;on, temoin, tenue, terne. '

For pther examples see barreau, cbambre,

*

Voltaire has

still '

chancellerie,

&c.

preserved this etymological signification in the lines

Qui de Meduse eut vu jadis la tete mue soudainement.'

Etait en roc

HISTORY OF MEANING.

xi

labourer (laborare, to birds, the skin-shedding of certain beasts; work) was restricted quite late to the sense of turning the soil. Oresme, in the fourteenth century, in translating the Ethics of Aristotle, says Les excellens medecins laboiirent moult a avoir Mardtre (from matraster) cognoissance des choses du corps.' meant only 'mother-in-law', or 'step-mother'; it later took the sense of a harsh and cruel step-mother.' Pre'au (from pratellum, Yikefleau from'\ flagellum) is literally a little meadow,' and kept this sense in old French; later it was restricted to the meaning, a little meadow behind :

*

'

'

I

'

^

j

a prison,' where the prisoners take their exercise thence, the prison- \ By the side of these narrowings and diminutions of meaning ;

court.^

extended and enlarged.^ Many terms of trade, or technical and special words, have thus entered into general use and this has been specially the case with hunting terms.

we must notice some

cases in which

it is

:

Attraper was at with the lure';

first

'

— one

to catch in a trap'

who

;

leurrer to

'

call in

the falcon

by the lure is a de'leurre {p\d form of the modern deliire). When a falcon was caught after his second moulting season, he was hard to tame, and fierce, or» as the falconers said, hagard ; whence Fr. hagard, Eng. haggard, came to have the sense of wild, then wan and wasted. But when the bird was taken from the nest, it was called mats (nidacem from nidus) and the weakness of young falcons gave the word nzais, niaiserie, to express the simpleness and awkwardness of young people who are scarcely out of their nest.' Another term of falconry is the expression des siller les yeiix (formerly de'ciller). It was usual to sew up the eyes of falcons to tame them, an operation expressed by the word ciller : when the bird was tame enough, they re-opened its eyes {de'ciller^ by cutting the thread which sewed together the eyelids {cils)} It was, similarly, very natural that man should give to the machines invented by him in order to economise his energy, or to -augment the effect of his work, the names of beasts of burden or of other animals which paid him service, or interested him by some fanciful analogy. Thus the Latin aries is a ram, a buttress, and a war-engine ; caprerefuses to be deceived

'

^

Marot,

iii.

308 (sixteenth century), writes

'Bientost apres, allans d'accord tous quatre Par les preaux toujours herbus s'esbattre.' ^

For examples see

granjelle,

J For

atterrer, dais, depit, ennui, etonner, fer, froisser, gene,

manant, &c.

examples see

arri'ver,

aubaine, avanie,

banal, banlieue, boucher,

debardeur, &c. * For other examples see abois, ackarner, agacer, aburir, aigrette, amadoner, ameuter (?), appas, bejaune, beugler, blottir, boucher, braconnier, brisees, brouter, bute, butor, curee, emerillonne , enjoleur, /ureter, herisser, bobereaux,

ruser, sacre, taniere, trace,

&c.

[

\

INTRODUCTION.

xu

olus has the two meanings of a chamois and of stays corvus is a Similarly, the French raven, a grappling-hook, and a crane, &c. language gives this kind of double meaning to several words thus mouton is a wether and a rammer; corbeau, a raven and a corbel; grue, a crane and the engine which bears the same name b^lier, a ram and an engine of war chevre, a goat and a crab chevron, a kid and a rafter. In many cases the earlier sense, that of the animal, has disappeared from Modern French, and that of the implement has thus poutre, a beam, signifies also a mare in Old survived alone ;

:

;

;

;

:

French

:

(sixteenth

*

De

toutes parts les poutres hennissantes,' says Ronsard This word, originally poltre, Italian poledro,

century).

comes from the Latin puUetrmn, a derivation of puUus, a foal, and found in the Germanic laws; thus in the Lex Salica, tit. xl. Si quis pulletrum furaverit.* Again, just (sixth century), we read as equuleus signifies a young horse, and a block, and the French chevalet is a little horse and a buttress, so poutre passed from the sense of a mare to that of a beam by the application of that wellknown metaphor which likens a supporting piece of wood to an animal which bears up a burden.^ So also land and water transport are assimilated, sea-terms being applied to land journeys thus debarcadere, derived from debarquer, to '

:

disembark, is used for the terminus of a road or railroad the platform of a station is called quai, a wharf: some kinds of omnibus are called gondoles or galeres ; coche signifies first a barge for travelling, then a coach; from caboter to coast from port to port comes cabotin, a strolling player who goes from town to town, &c.^ ;

§ 14. To complete this series we must quote some very singular metaphors which come from the vulgar Latin, and prove what a ^eat part the common_jpeople took in the formation-Qf^the Frendf language":

from testa

(a brokehvessel),

gurges

(a gulf),b6tellus (aTpudding), pellis gorge, boyau, peau ; and the classical caput, guttur, intestinum, cutis, are set aside. The French

(a fur hide),

come

the French

tete,

words tongue adopted these metaphors from the vulgar Latin testa means a *skuir in Ausonius, botellus an 'intestine' in Tertullian. These fanciful metaphors of the Roman common folk are not at all astonishing, if one remembers that in French slang a head is likened :

hand to pincers, &c. By the side of these metaphors, sprung from the Latin and transmitted thence to the French, there are a great number of native growth, and charming in their simplicity thus the people have given the name of bergeronnette ( = petite bergere, little shepherdess) to the wagtail, a meadowto a ball, the legs to skittles, the

:

loving bird;

the

*

^

bouvreuil

(bovariolus from bovarius, = a

For other examples For other examples

see demoiselle, grue, &c. see canard, &c.

little

COMPARISON OF MEANING. bouvier, or neat-herd) is the bullfinch, a bird

and Hngers about in §

their

xiii

which follows the herds,

neighbourhood.

—What

of Meaning. shew how much more

15. Comparison

we have

already said

is

meanIn dealing with the latter we have ings than the forms of words. Climate and simply to deal with regular and observable changes. race have given to each of the peoples of Gaul, Italy, and Spain, enough

to

difficult

it

is

to study the

a vocal apparatus differing in certain inflexions of pronunciation and according to these, the Latin language has been transformed This with an unchanging regularity into three diflferent languages. part of philology, styled Phonetics, is in reality a part of Natural History, for it depends, after all, on the physical conditions special to In fact it is as much certain families of languages and peoples. dependent on material conditions as the study of meanings is independent of them. While the study of form can only have in view a single group or family of languages of common origin, the study of meanings attacks all languages alike, observes in all the progress of the human mind, and passes out of the domain of natural sciences into that of psychology

:

etymology draws largely on

this

comparison

of metaphors which explain and cdhfirm the derivations suggested for certain words, even when we cannot give a full explanation of them. Thus, it is curious that popular language should have called a certain bird (the wren) roitelei [= peiii roi, kinglet); but the etymology becomes absolutely certain if we compare the Latin, Greek, German, Dutch, Swedish, Spanish, and Portuguese, and find the same metaphor in all.^ This coincidence does not indeed explain_the_cause of the name^, but it proverifs~exrstence,"ahd"the correctness of the derivatlonr ""It makes it easier to understand that the Latin causa became chose, when one notices that the German