étier

Forms

étier m (plural étiers)^[1] Old French estier (1312) and ester (1400); the spelling étier dates from the end of the 17th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French estier, inherited from Latin aestuārium (“place flooded by the sea at high tide, lagoon”).^[2][4][5] The TLFi describes it as a dialect word of the Atlantic coast, from the mouth of the Loire down to Gascony, and compares the place name Létier and Old Gascon esteir (“brook”) (1217).^[2] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert derive the Latin noun from aestus (“surge of the sea”).^[5][6] Littré gives an intermediate Medieval Latin esterium.^[7]

It is a doublet of the learned estuaire.^[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as estier in 1312, in a document of the royal archives quoted by Godefroy's Complément.^[2] Littré's 14th-century quotations, from Du Cange, speak of a ditch that runs into l'estier du port below a castle and of a barge lying ou dit ester, sur l'eaue, so the word named a tidal channel that boats could use.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The GLLF dates the first sense, a narrow channel linking a town with a river or the sea and able to carry small boats, to the 14th century;^[3] Furetière's dictionary of 1690 adds the channel that brings sea water into the salt marshes.^[3] The salt-works sense is the one the modern dictionaries give first, and Littré already called the navigational sense rare.^[6][8][7]

In the mid-20th century the word came to be used on the coast of southern Brittany for a small estuary.^[3] The Petit Robert labels it a regional word.^[6]

Timeline

• 1217 – Old Gascon esteir “brook” is recorded at Bordeaux.^[2]
• 1312 – Estier appears in a document of the royal archives.^[2][5]
• 1400 – The form ester is found in a document from Saint-Jean-d'Angély.^[2]
• Late 17th century – The spelling étier appears.^[3]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “channel feeding a salt marsh”.^[3]
• Mid-20th century – It is used in southern Brittany for a small estuary.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A channel that lets sea water into a salt marsh at high tide: le curage des étiers du marais.^[2][6][8]
2. (rare) A small canal running into the sea or a large river, deep enough for small boats.^[7][3]
3. (regional) On the coast of southern Brittany, a small estuary.^[3]

Related words

• estuaire
• Latin aestuārium

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 235a
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)