étrille

Forms

étrille f (plural étrilles)^[1] Old French estrille; the modern spelling is recorded by Monet in 1636.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French estrille, inherited from Vulgar Latin *strigila, a remodelling of Latin strigilis (“scraper, strigil”) after the verb *strigilō, which gave étriller.^[3][4][5] The Grand Robert and the GLLF trace the Latin noun to stringō (“to draw tight, to graze”).^[5][2] The DHLF also allows that the noun may be a deverbal of Old French estriller.^[6] According to Bloch and Wartburg, the vowel /i/ of the noun comes from the unstressed forms of the verb.^[4]

Cognate with Walloon sitreie, Catalan estrijol and Italian streglia.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record, about 1245 in Henri de Cambrai's Regrets Notre Dame, already uses the name of the currycomb figuratively.^[3] Littré quotes a 13th-century text that lists estrilles among the things a household lacks.^[7]

Semantic evolution

As in Latin, the word first named the iron plate with a handle and toothed blades used to clean the coat of horses, mules and other large animals.^[6][3] Littré also records a figurative use for an inn or tavern that overcharges its guests, with the phrase être logé à l'étrille.^[7]

From 1769, by likeness of shape, it became the name of an edible swimming crab whose hind legs are flattened into paddles.^[3][6][2]

Timeline

• c. 1245 – Estrille appears, used figuratively, in Henri de Cambrai's Regrets Notre Dame.^[3]
• 1636 – Monet records the spelling étrille.^[2]
• 1769 – Duhamel du Monceau uses it for a kind of crab.^[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A currycomb: a metal plate with a short handle and rows of small toothed blades, used to groom horses and other large animals: Le palefrenier passe l'étrille sur la croupe du cheval.^[3][8][9]
2. The velvet swimming crab, an edible crab whose hind legs are flattened into paddles.^[3][8][9]
3. (archaic, figurative) An inn or tavern where one pays too much: être logé à l'étrille.^[7]

Related words

• étriller
• étrillage
• strigile
• Latin strigilis

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)