alcôve

Pronunciation

• IPA: /al.kov/^[1]

Forms

alcôve f (plural alcôves)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish alcoba,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Arabic القبة (al-qubba, “the dome, vaulted room”), with the Arabic article ال (al-).^[2][3][7] The Spanish word meant a place for public weighing (1202), then a dome (1272–1284), and in the early 16th century a recess in a bedroom for the bed;^[2][5] the Arabic had come to mean “small room next to a larger one” in the 14th century.^[2][3] Wiktionary also allows Portuguese alcova.^[1] The Arabic word had earlier given Old French alcube, a small tent.^[3]

From French come German Alkoven and English alcove.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Boisrobert's Épître à Mme de Motteville (1646) speaks of finding oneself “dedans l'Alcove en la chambre privée”, in the alcove of the private chamber.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The word entered French in the world of the précieuses, whose ladies received company in the alcove of their bedroom, hence tenir alcôve “to hold a salon” (1660).^[3][2][8] It could be masculine in the 17th century (La Fontaine), a use Littré condemned.^[8][9] Later it became the setting of love affairs: secrets d'alcôve and histoires d'alcôve, recorded by Larousse in 1866.^[3][6] Around Lyon it named a small back room lit through another (1796).^[3]

Timeline

• 1202 – Spanish alcoba, a public weighing place.^[2][5]
• 1646 – French alcôve (Boisrobert).^[2][4]
• 1660 – Tenir alcôve.^[3]
• 1796 – A small back room, in the Lyon region.^[3]
• 1866 – Secrets d'alcôve.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An alcove, a recess in a bedroom for a bed.^[6][8]
2. (figurative) Intimacy, love affairs: secrets d'alcôve.^[6][8]
3. (literary history) The part of a bedroom where the précieuses received company.^[6][2]

Related words

• English alcove

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 19, 96b
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette