étain

Forms

étain m (usually uncountable, plural étains)^[1] Old French estain and estaim; the spelling étain is found from 1596.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French estain, inherited from Latin stagnum (“tin”).^[5][6][7][8] In imperial Latin the word, with a variant stannum, meant an alloy of silver and lead, “silver-bearing lead”, and only in Late Latin “tin”.^[5][6][8] The form with ⟨g⟩ is the better attested and is not found before Pliny, who says that tinning was a Gaulish invention, so the Latin word may be a Gaulish loan, but its origin remains uncertain.^[6][5][8] Wiktionary derives it from Celtic, Proto-Celtic *stagnom.^[1] Littré notes that only the form with ⟨g⟩ explains the Romance words.^[9]

Cognate with Old Occitan estanh, Italian stagno and Spanish estaño.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi first finds estains about 1220 in Gui de Cambrai's Barlaam et Josaphat; the GLLF, the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert give estaim in 1213, in the Fet des Romains.^[5][2][3][4] The sense is the metal tin.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The metal was used for tableware and church plate: the Chronique de Rains tells of chalices of estain, and the Ménagier de Paris lists dishes of it.^[9] By metonymy the word named a set of tin objects in the 16th century (eten), then a single tin or pewter object (un étain, 1870).^[6][4] D'étain is also used of what has the colour of tin.^[6][5]

The verb étamer (about 1245, “to cover”; 1260 as estamé) replaced -ain- by -am- through confusion with words in -am and a crossing with entamer.^[6][8] The mirror word tain (about 1200) is an altered form of étain, after teint.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1220 – Estains in Gui de Cambrai's Barlaam et Josaphat.^[5]
• c. 1245 – The derived verb s'estamer is recorded.^[6]
• 16th century – Eten names a set of tin objects.^[6][2]
• 1596 – The modern spelling étain is recorded.^[3][4][2]
• 1870 – Un étain, a single tin or pewter object.^[6][4][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. tin, the greyish-white, very malleable metal with the symbol Sn.^[4][5]
2. The same metal, sometimes alloyed with lead, used for everyday and decorative objects: pewter.^[5][1]
3. An object made of tin or pewter.^[4][2]

Word family

• étamer
• rétamer
• étamage

Related words

• tain
• stannique
• Latin stagnum

Usage notes

Papier d'étain is very thin tin foil used for wrapping.^[4] Littré records étain de glace as an old name for bismuth.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 226a
8. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette