Etymologically
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écoutille

Etymology and origin of the French word écoutille

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Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1538, escoutille
Borrowed from
Spanish escotilla
Ultimate origin
Gothic (𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍄𐍃)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /e.ku.tij/[1]

Forms

écoutille f (plural écoutilles)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish escotilla (“hatchway”) (1431–1450),[2][3][4][5] a derivative of escotar (“to cut a neckline”),[2][3] or of escote (“neckline, opening in a garment”) according to Bloch and Wartburg;[4] Spanish “escotadura” “theatre trapdoor” is attested in the 15th century.[2][4] The Spanish word is probably from Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍄𐍃 (skauts, “edge of a garment”),[2][4][1] though the forms of Portuguese “decotar” and Old Languedocien “escotat” make difficulties;[2] Rey thinks of an Old Norse “skaut” instead.[3] Wiktionary compares German Schoß (“lap”) and English sheet.[1]

Littré thought it might come from écoute, the hatch being compared to a listening place.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A manuscript of 1538 has escoutille for the panel that covers a hatchway;[2][3] Rabelais (1552) uses it for the opening itself, where Pantagruel dozes sus un strapontin on bout des escoutilles.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The sense “panel covering the hatch” is found until 1643 (Fournier).[2] The word names the rectangular opening in a ship's deck that gives access to the decks below and the hold.[7][8] The diminutive écoutillon dates from 1552.[3] Mountaineers have used it for a vertical shaft in ice (1950).[9]

Timeline

  • 1431–1450 – Spanish escotilla.[2]
  • 1538 – Escoutille “hatch cover”.[2]
  • 1552 – The opening itself, in Rabelais, écoutillon.[2][3]
  • 1694 – Recorded by the Académie.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (nautical) A hatch, hatchway: an opening in a ship's deck giving access below.[7][10]

Word family

  • écoutillon
  • écoute
  • Spanish escotilla
  • English scuttle

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 104b
  6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Écoutille.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/%C3%A9coutille. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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