andouiller

Forms

andouiller m (plural andouillers)^[1] Middle French andoullier, andeillier and the feminine andoilliee in the Livres du roy Modus.^[2] Old French antoillier, used from the 14th to the 18th century.^[3][4][5] 16th-century endoiller (Du Fouilloux).^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French antoillier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *anteoculare (“(horn) in front of the eyes”), a neuter adjective used as a noun with cornū (“horn”) understood.^[3][5][4][6] The Latin form is built from ante (“before”) and oculus (“eye”).^[4][7] The etymology, proposed by Bugge, rests on the sense: the first tine grows forward just above the stag's eyes.^[3][5] The TLFi compares the formation of Latin subocularis (“lying under the eye”), and Bloch and Wartburg the German Augensprosse, literally “eye sprout”.^[3][5] Etymonline notes that some doubt the etymology because no similar word exists in the other Romance languages.^[8]

The form with ⟨d⟩ is an alteration of the older form with ⟨t⟩, probably by attraction of andouille “sausage”.^[3][5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Livres du roy Modus et de la royne Ratio (1354–1376) explain that the branches on a stag's horns are each called andoulliers and as a group cors: the word then named any branch of the antlers.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In the hunting treatises the word soon took narrower senses.^[3] Gaston Phébus's Livre de la chasse (1387–1391) calls the first tine, next to the burr, antoillier, and the second sur-antoillier.^[3] Du Fouilloux's Vénerie (1561) uses andoilliers for the tines at the top of the antler, a sense the hunting books kept until about 1900.^[3]

In modern usage the word applies to every tine, and by metonymy to the whole antler; the first tine is now the andouiller d'œil or maître andouiller.^[3][4] The Anglo-Norman form gave English antler in the late 14th century, first meaning the first tine of a deer's horns.^[8]

Timeline

• 1354–1376 – The Livres du roy Modus call each branch of a stag's horns an andoullier.^[3][2]
• Late 14th century – English antler is borrowed from Anglo-Norman.^[8]
• 1387–1391 – Gaston Phébus uses antoillier for the first tine near the burr.^[3]
• 1561 – Du Fouilloux uses andoilliers for the top tines.^[3]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the sense “first tine”.^[3]
• 1718 – The Académie records the general sense “tine”.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (hunting) A tine, one of the branches growing from the antlers of a stag, roe deer or fallow deer, whose number shows the animal's age.^[3][9][7]
2. Andouiller d'œil, maître andouiller: the first tine, pointing forward over the eyes.^[3][4]
3. Andouiller de fer or sur-andouiller: the second tine.^[3]
4. By metonymy, the whole antler with its tines.^[3]

Related words

• cor¹
• œil
• Vulgar Latin *anteoculare
• English antler

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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 c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 319b
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert