éperon

Forms

éperon m (plural éperons)^[1] Old French esperun, remade as esperon (1428); éperon from the 16th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French esperun, borrowed from Frankish *sporo, a word for the rider's spur that mercenary soldiers brought in early.^[4][2][5][6] The Germanic word is recorded in Late Latin of the 9th century as Late Latin sporonus and spora, glossing calcar.^[4][3] It is cognate with Old High German sporo, German Sporn and English spur.^[4][5][2]

From the Frankish word came also Italian sprone and Old Occitan esperon, while Spanish espuela is from the corresponding Gothic word.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Esperun is in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), for the spur of a horseman: Esperuns d'or ad en ses piez fermez “he fastened golden spurs on his feet”.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

The word kept the Frankish sense and also stood for the urging given by the spur.^[2] Until the 18th century it stood for speed: Old French a esperon meant “very fast”, whence donner de l'éperon “to quicken the pace”.^[2] In the Middle Ages chausser les éperons was to make a knight, since the new knight's spurs were put on him, and gagner ses éperons (19th century) is a romantic allusion to this.^[7][2] The figurative sense “stimulus” dates from the end of the 16th century.^[2]

From the idea of a point, éperon named the beak of a ship's prow (1428, then 1552), a projecting part of a building (1556–60), the cock's spur (1605) and a spur of a mountain range (1801).^[4][2] The GLLF dates its use for a fortification to 1611 (Cotgrave) and for masonry to 1676 (Félibien); the BHVF adds a breakwater protecting a river bank.^[3][8]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Esperun appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[4]
• 1292 – Esperonnier “spur maker” in the Paris tax roll.^[4]
• 1428 – Esperon is used of the point of a ship's prow.^[4][2]
• 1556–60 – First used in architecture.^[4]
• late 16th century – The figurative sense “stimulus”.^[2]
• 1605 – Olivier de Serres uses it of the cock's spur.^[4]
• 1801 – Crèvecœur uses it for a spur of a mountain.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A spur worn on the rider's heel to urge on a horse: elle piqua sa jument des éperons.^[9][4]
2. A steel point fitted to the legs of a fighting cock; also the natural spur of a cock or a dog.^[9]
3. (botany) A slender hollow projection of a flower's calyx or petals, as in the nasturtium.^[9]
4. (nautical) The pointed ram of a ship's bow.^[9][1]
5. A projection of a mountain range;^[9][1] éperon rocheux, a rocky spur.^[9][1]
6. (architecture) A pointed projecting structure that supports or protects, such as the cutwater of a bridge.^[9][8]
7. (figurative) A stimulus, something that spurs one on.^[2][7]

Word family

• éperonner
• éperonnier

Usage notes

Gagner ses éperons “to win one's spurs” means to prove oneself and rise to a higher position.^[7][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 185b
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert