étourneau

Forms

étourneau m (plural étourneaux)^[1] Old French estornel (11th century), esturnel (1119), later esturneau (about 1280) and estourneau (about 1398); étourneau from 1636.^[2][3][4] The Old French nominative singular was estourniaus.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French estornel, inherited from Late Latin sturnellus, a diminutive of sturnus (“starling”).^[4][2][6][7] Etymonline traces the Latin word to Proto-Indo-European *storo- (“starling”), the root also of Old English stær, whence English starling.^[8]

Cognate with Italian storno, Italian stornello and Old Occitan estornel.^[6][2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as estornel in the 11th-century French glosses of Rashi, naming the starling.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the sense of the Latin.^[2] From the 17th century it is also said of a thoughtless, scatterbrained person (Molière, 1660), from the fitful look of the starling's flight and above all from its likeness in sound to étourdi;^[2][4][6][9] avoir teste d'estournel “to be heedless” is found in the 15th century.^[2][4][6][9] In horsemanship Littré records it for a horse of a yellowish grey coat.^[5]

Timeline

• 11th century – Estornel in the glosses of Rashi.^[4]
• 1119 – Esturnel in Philippe de Thaon's Comput.^[4]
• c. 1280 – The form esturneau.^[2][7]
• c. 1398 – Estourneau in the Ménagier de Paris.^[3]
• 15th century – Teste d'estournel “scatterbrain”.^[3][2]
• 1636 – Monet spells it étourneau.^[3]
• 1660 – Molière uses it of a heedless person in Sganarelle.^[4][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A starling, a dark, white-speckled passerine living in flocks: Des nuées d'étourneaux tournoyaient au-dessus du parc.^[4][9]
2. (dated, figurative) A scatterbrain, a thoughtless person: Ce jeune étourneau a encore oublié ses clés.^[9][3][5]
3. (horsemanship, dated) A horse with a yellowish grey coat; also as an adjective: cheval étourneau.^[5]

Related words

• sansonnet
• étourdi
• Latin sturnus
• English starling

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert