étrenne

Forms

étrenne f (plural étrennes)^[1] Old French estreine, estraine and estrine.^[2][3][4] The spelling étrenne is recorded from 1636 and drove out estreine in the 17th century.^[2][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French estreine, inherited from Latin strēna (“omen, sign, a gift given as a good omen”).^[6][7][8] The Latin word first meant a prediction or sign, then the presents given on a feast day to serve as a good omen;^[6][8] Rey says it has no known etymology.^[6][8]

Cognate with Italian strenna, Old Occitan estrena, Catalan estrena, Spanish estrena and Portuguese estreia.^[4][9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as estreine about 1165, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie, meaning a gift.^[6][8]

Semantic evolution

From about 1185 the word also meant the first use made of a thing, a sense now archaic, as is the use (13th century) for a shopkeeper's first sale of the day.^[6][8] In the plural, estrenes meant presents given for the first day of the year from the first third of the 13th century, and by metonymy the word also named the season when such gifts were made.^[6][8]

The plural also came to mean the year-end bonus given to certain workers, whence a sense “tip” (1835) that has since disappeared.^[8][10] Figuratively, in slang, it meant a blow as early as Chrétien de Troyes, and the phrase donner les étrennes à quelqu'un “to play someone a nasty trick” appears in the early 17th century.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – Estreine “gift” appears in the Roman de Troie.^[6]
• c. 1185 – It is used for the first use of a thing.^[6][8]
• Early 13th century – The plural estrenes means New Year's presents.^[6]
• 1636 – The spelling étrenne is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1835 – The sense “tip” is recorded.^[8][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (usually plural) A New Year's gift.^[3][4]
2. (plural) A year-end gratuity given to the postman, refuse collectors and others.^[3]
3. (dated) The first use of something new: avoir l'étrenne de quelque chose, to be the first to use it.^[3][6][10]
4. (obsolete) A shopkeeper's first sale of the day.^[6][4]

Word family

• étrenner

Related words

• Latin strēna

Usage notes

Vous n'en avez pas l'étrenne (“you are not the first to say so”) is said as a reproach or retort.^[3][10]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 294a
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse