étai
French has two words spelled étai: the stay of a ship's mast, from Old English, and the prop or shore, from Frankish.[1][2]
étai1 ship's stay
Pronunciation
Forms
étai m (plural étais)[3]
Etymology
The ship's stay is borrowed from Old English stæġ (“rope, stay”),[4][2][3][5] influenced by the word for a prop;[4][1] Rey takes it from Old Saxon stag instead.[6] Wiktionary takes the English word from Proto-Germanic *stagą.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
Guillaume de Berneville's Vie de saint Gilles (about 1180) has estai as a sailors' word;[4][7] the Grand Robert and Petit Robert date it to about 1130.[2][1]
Semantic evolution
The word was rare before the 16th century.[4][6] It names the rope or wire that holds a mast forward, to stop it falling backwards;[1][8] on large sailing ships the stays are named after their masts (étai de misaine).[8] Voiles d'étai, staysails, are recorded in 1870.[7]
Timeline
- c. 1180 – Estai in the Vie de saint Gilles.[4]
- 1690 – The spelling étai, in Furetière.[7]
- 1870 – Voile d'étai.[7]
Meanings
Noun
étai2 prop
Pronunciation
Forms
étai m (plural étais)[3]
Etymology
The prop is from Frankish *staka (“support, prop”),[6][9][2][10] which Rey reconstructs from Middle Dutch stake (“pole”) and Middle High German stak (“pole, post”).[6] Middle Dutch staeye is borrowed from Old French “estaie”.[9] Littré derived it from Flemish.[11]
The word appears in many forms, each found only once or twice: “estai” (about 1193), “escai” (1266), the feminine “estaie” (1303–1304), “atay” (1398) and “étaie” (17th century), the feminine being commonest until the 18th century;[6][7] “étai” is recorded in 1753.[6][2]
Earliest recorded meaning
Hélinand (about 1193) has estai for a beam propping up a building.[7][6]
Semantic evolution
The figurative sense “help, support” is found from 1266.[6] Froissart writes of a fortress that ne git que sur estais, that is undermined.[11] The word names a timber or metal prop used to support a building, a floor or the roof of a mine, and figuratively a support of society (Renan).[1][7] The verb étayer dates from 1213 and its figurative sense from 1580.[6][9]
Timeline
- c. 1193 – Estai in Hélinand.[7]
- 1213 – The verb estaier.[6]
- 1266 – Figurative “support”.[6]
- 1304 – The feminine estaie.[2]
- 1753 – The form étai.[6]
Meanings
Noun
- A prop or shore: a timber or metal post supporting a structure temporarily, or the roof of a mine.[1][8]
- (figurative, literary) A support, mainstay.[1][7]
Word family
- étayer
- étaiement
- étayage
Related words
- English stay
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e 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
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 193a
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
- ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 195a
- ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette