étanche

Forms

étanche (plural étanches)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French estanche, the feminine of the Old French adjective estanc (“exhausted”) (about 1150), which came to be used for both genders; the masculine, also spelt estanch, was still recorded in the 18th century.^[2][3][4][5] That adjective is a back-formation from Old French estanchier (“to stop, cease, stop from weariness”), the source of étancher.^[2][3][1]

The origin of the verb is disputed.^[3] Bloch and Wartburg and Rey's first hypothesis derive it from Vulgar Latin *stanticō (“to stop, hold back”), from stāns, present participle of stō (“to stand”), on the evidence of Italian stancare (“to tire”), stanco (“weary”), Spanish estancar (“to stop the flow of water”) and Old Occitan estancar (“to stop, close”);^[5][3] the FEW files the word under the same etymon.^[6] Rey also reports a form *extancō, from a perhaps pre-Latin root meaning “to close”, and P. Guiraud's Romance *stannicō, from stannum (“tin, lead”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the mid-12th century the Roman de Thèbes has plaie estanche, a wound that has stopped bleeding.^[4][3][7] The TLFi's first record of the feminine is vie estanche “a quiet life” (about 1250, Doon de Mayence).^[2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “quiet” did not survive.^[3] In the 13th century the word was already said of what does not let water through (la cauchie estancque, a causeway), and above all, later, of boats (bateaux estanches, 1394).^[2][3] This sense won out, and the modern spelling étanche is in Furetière (1690).^[3][4][7] The phrase cloison étanche “watertight bulkhead” (1873) took the figurative sense of a strict separation, so that étanche also came to mean “completely separated, isolated”.^[3][4][8] A noun étanche appeared in 1341, and the naval à étanche d'eau in 1694.^[3][9] The derivative étanchéité “watertightness” dates from 1865.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1150 – The masculine estanc “exhausted” in the Roman de Thèbes (chevaux estanz).^[2][3]
• c. 1250 – Vie estanche “quiet life” in Doon de Mayence.^[2][3]
• 13th century – Estancque of a causeway that does not let water through.^[2][3]
• 1394 – Bateaux estanches: watertight boats.^[2][3]
• 1690 – Furetière spells it étanche.^[4][7]
• 1865 – The derivative étanchéité is recorded.^[3]
• 1873 – Cloison étanche in the Journal officiel.^[4][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That does not let liquids or gases through: watertight, airtight: un réservoir étanche, une montre étanche.^[8][2][1]
2. Of ground: naturally imperméable.^[2]
3. Cloison étanche: a watertight bulkhead, and figuratively a complete separation: Il y a des cloisons étanches entre ces deux services.^[8][3]

Noun

1. (navy) À étanche d'eau: so as to keep out the water.^[9][3]

Word family

• étanchéité

Related words

• étancher
• étang

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 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 t Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b 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, 231b
7. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette