étamine

étamine¹ muslin, cheesecloth

Pronunciation

• /e.ta.min/^[1]

Forms

étamine f (plural étamines)^[1] Old French estamine; the spelling étamine is recorded from 1636.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

The word for the fabric is inherited from Old French estamine, inherited from Vulgar Latin *staminea according to the Grand Robert and Bloch and Wartburg, with a change of suffix.^[2][5][3][6] The TLFi and Rey take it instead as borrowed, with a change of suffix, from Medieval Latin staminea (“woollen shirt worn by monks”), recorded in 665.^[4][7][1] Either way the source is the feminine of Latin stāmineus (“furnished with thread”), from stāmen (“warp, thread”), which also gave étaim.^[5][4][7]

Cognate with Italian stamigna, Spanish estameña, Old Occitan estamenha^[5][7] and Catalan estamenya.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as estamine in Wace's Roman de Rou (1160–1174), for a light woollen or cotton cloth used especially for a garment worn by monks;^[4][7] Littré quotes the line Et cole et estamine et un froc en osterent “and they took out a cowl, an estamine and a frock”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

From the 12th century the word named a light cloth of wool or cotton, especially the stuff of a monk's garment;^[7][4] today it is a technical term for a thin, supple fabric with a very loose weave, used for clothes, curtains, veils and flags.^[7][4] By extension it named a loosely woven cloth used for sifting and straining (the TLFi has it about 1393, the Petit Robert about 1260),^[4][7][3] whence the figurative passer à l'étamine “to subject to close scrutiny” (before 1553).^[7][4] From the 16th to the 18th century the phrase was also said of people put through an ordeal, especially treatment for syphilis (1752); this use has disappeared and the phrase itself is archaic.^[7] In 1765 the word also named a tapestry canvas.^[4][7]

The derivative étaminier (1301, estaminiere), a maker of the fabric, was in common use until the 19th century.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1155 – First date given by the Grand Robert, as estamine.^[2]
• 1160–1174 – Estamine appears in Wace's Roman de Rou.^[4][7]
• 1301 – Estaminiere names a maker of the fabric.^[7]
• c. 1393 – The sense “cloth for sifting” is found in the Ménagier de Paris.^[4][7]
• Before 1553 – Passer à l'étamine “to scrutinize” is recorded.^[7]
• 1636 – The spelling étamine is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1765 – It names a tapestry canvas.^[4][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A thin, light, loosely woven fabric of wool, cotton or silk; etamine.^[4][3][9]
2. Canvas used for tapestry work.^[4][9]
3. A loosely woven cloth used to strain or sift; muslin, cheesecloth: filtrer un bouillon à travers une étamine.^[4][3][1]
4. (dated, figurative) Passer à l'étamine: to examine severely, to sift.^[4][7]

étamine² stamen

Pronunciation

• /e.ta.min/^[1]

Forms

étamine f (plural étamines)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the flower's organ is borrowed from Latin stāmina (“threads, filaments”), the neuter plural of stāmen (“thread, filament”), which Pliny used in this sense of the lily; it was made French in shape after the word for the fabric (étamine¹).^[4][5][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as estamine in botany in Furetière's dictionary (1690);^[4][10] Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1685.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its botanical sense, the male organ of the flower.^[3][10] Littré gives it beside the fabric as a separate word, from Latin stamina “filaments”.^[8]

Timeline

• 1685 – First date given by Bloch and Wartburg.^[5]
• 1690 – Furetière records estamine in botany.^[4][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) A stamen, the male organ of a flowering plant, made of a filament and an anther that produces the pollen.^[3][10][1]