adouber

Forms

adouber^[1] Old French aduber and adober.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French aduber, probably borrowed from Frankish *dubban (“to strike”).^[3][4][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF analyse it as a compound with the prefix a- of an unrecorded simple verb.^[7][8] The Frankish verb is inferred from Old Frisian dubba (“to strike”), with Middle Dutch dubben (“to shake”), and may go back to an Indo-European root meaning "to strike".^[3] The word is usually explained by the ceremony of knighthood, in which the new knight was struck on the shoulder or the neck with the flat of the sword or the hand.^[5][3][9]

Older proposals derived it from Latin adoptō (Du Cange) or from Italian addoppiare (“to double”) (Ménage); Littré already preferred the Germanic origin put forward by Diez.^[2] As a word of chivalry it passed from French into Old Norse dubba and into Old English as dubbian, the source of English dub;^[3][10][7] the TLFi finds a borrowing in the other direction improbable.^[3] Provençal adobar, Spanish adobar and Italian addobbare were likewise taken from French.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it means to equip or arm a fighting man, as in adubent lor cors D'osbercs e de helmes “they arm themselves with hauberks and helmets”, and also to make weapons ready.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The specialised sense “to dub a knight” is recorded before 1150 and was frequent in the 12th century, along with the noun adoubement.^[3][5] From “arm as a knight” the verb widened to “equip”, then to “prepare, arrange” in general, a sense still very common in the 16th century and rare in the 17th.^[7][8] The general sense also lives on in radouber “to repair a ship”, from the 13th century.^[7][5]

By the 19th century the word was archaic;^[3][2] Littré knew it mainly from backgammon and chess, where j'adoube tells the opponent that a piece is being touched only to set it straight.^[3][2] The chess use is dated 1752 by the Petit Robert.^[9] Today it is chiefly a term of medieval history, though its medieval flavour gives it some wider figurative use.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – The Chanson de Roland uses aduber for arming fighting men and readying weapons.^[3]
• 11th century – Old English dubbian “to make a knight” is recorded.^[10]
• before 1150 – The Charroi de Nîmes uses it for making a knight.^[3]
• 12th century – The noun adobement is recorded.^[5]
• 16th century – The general sense “to prepare” is still very common; it becomes rare in the 17th century.^[7]
• 1752 – First recorded in its chess sense.^[9]
• 1842 – The supplement to the Académie dictionary marks the word as archaic.^[3]
• 1848 – Jal records it in the navy for repairing a ship.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (history) To dub someone a knight, in the ceremony of adoubement: le seigneur adouba son écuyer.^[9][3][8]
2. (figurative) To name or approve someone as a successor or to a post.^[1]
3. (chess, draughts) To set a piece straight on its square without making a move;^[9][8][2] j'adoube is the formula said to the opponent.^[9][8][2]
4. (nautical, dated) To repair a ship;^[3][2] radouber is the usual word.^[3][2]

Word family

• adoubement
• radouber

Related words

• daube
• English dub

Usage notes

The TLFi notes that the nautical sense is more often recorded under radouber than under adouber.^[3] The DHLF also connects the same Germanic verb with the cooking term daube.^[5]

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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/2, 77a
5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com