éponge

Forms

éponge f (plural éponges)^[1] Anglo-Norman espoigne (about 1220), Old French espoinge and esponge (13th century), spelled éponge since 1636.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French esponge, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sponga, beside the classical form Latin spongia, from which the Anglo-Norman espoigne comes.^[2][4][3][5] Latin took it from Ancient Greek σπογγιά (spongiá), derived from σπόγγος (spóngos, “sponge”).^[2][5][1] The Vulgar Latin form is explained by a fresh contact with the Greek word through the sponge trade, the sponges coming mostly from the Greek islands to Marseille.^[2][5][6] Rey sees behind the Greek a Mediterranean word also found in the names of the mushroom, as in Latin fungus.^[3]

Cognate with Italian spugna, made on the classical form, though most of Italy says sponga,^[5] and with Occitan esponja and Spanish esponja.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Anglo-Norman espoigne is found about 1220 in La Petite Philosophie;^[2] in Moamin et Ghatrif (1249–1272) espoinge is the porous sponge used as a compress, and a 13th-century translation of Roger of Parma's surgery has esponge de mer.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The animal from which the substance comes was named by metonymy in 1502.^[3][8] The sponge's uses gave figurative phrases: passer l'éponge “wipe the slate clean” (1607), boire comme une éponge (1651, Scarron), whence une éponge for a heavy drinker (about 1840), and presser l'éponge “squeeze someone dry” (1690).^[3][9] Others have aged, such as vouloir sécher la mer avec une éponge (1690) and éponge à sottises (1691), a gullible person.^[3]

By likeness of shape or function it was used in botany (1701),^[2] for spongy platinum (1860)^[2] and for an absorbent fabric, tissu éponge (1877).^[3][8] Jeter l'éponge (1901), at first in boxing, translates the English to throw up the sponge and now means to give up any struggle.^[3] The verb éponger is found in Old French about 1223 and again from 1755.^[3][5]

Timeline

• c. 1220 – Anglo-Norman espoigne in La Petite Philosophie.^[2]
• 1249–1272 – Espoinge used for a compress.^[2]
• 1502 – First used for the sea animal.^[3]
• 1607 – Passer l'éponge in Hulsius.^[9][3]
• 1636 – The spelling éponge appears.^[3][9]
• 1651 – Boire comme une éponge in Scarron.^[3][9]
• 1860 – Éponge de platine is recorded.^[2]
• 1877 – Tissu éponge is recorded.^[3][8]
• 1901 – Jeter l'éponge in boxing.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A light, porous substance from a marine animal that soaks up liquids, or an object made of it or of a synthetic material, used for washing: nettoyer l'évier avec une éponge.^[8][2][1]
2. (zoology) The sponge, a sea animal of the phylum Porifera (spongiaires).^[8][2]
3. (familiar) A heavy drinker: c'est une éponge.^[8][3]
4. Tissu éponge, serviette éponge: terry cloth, a terry towel.^[8][3]
5. Éponge de platine: spongy platinum.^[8][2]
6. (botany) A spongy gall on the wild rose.^[2][3]

Word family

• éponger

Related words

• spongieux
• Latin spongia

Usage notes

Passer l'éponge sur quelque chose means to forget a fault, and jeter l'éponge to throw in the towel.^[8][7] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert list a second éponge (1528), the end of each branch of a horseshoe and a swelling on a horse's elbow, an alteration under the influence of this word of Old French esponde, from Latin sponda (“edge”).^{[10][8][11][7]}

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 m n o 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 g h i j k l m n o p q r s Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 207a
5. ^ a b c d e 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. 12, 208b
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)