anneau

Forms

anneau m (plural anneaux)^[1] Old French anel, plural aniaus; the form anneau, with a new suffix, appears in 1380.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French anel, inherited from Latin ānellus (“little ring”), a variant of ānulus (“ring”), itself a diminutive of ānus (“ring”).^[2][1][4][5] Bloch and Wartburg note that classical Latin mostly used the simpler diminutive.^[6] Littré rejects an older derivation from annus (“year”), from the circular course of the sun.^[3]

Cognate with Italian anello, Occitan anèl, Catalan anell, Spanish anillo, Portuguese anel and Romanian inel.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as anel in the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050), for a ring worn on the finger.^[8][3]

Semantic evolution

The word names any circle of hard material, especially of metal, used to tie or hold something, with many technical uses: a link of a chain (anels “a prisoner's irons”, 12th century, and in general from 1636), the ring of a key (1611) and a cylindrical moulding in architecture (1627).^[2] The sense “finger ring” led in Middle French to “betrothal” (1399) and then “marriage” (16th century); the gold ring of a bishop is recorded from the 12th century, and the papal seal called anneau du pêcheur from the 16th century, in allusion to Saint Peter.^[2] Gymnastics gave les anneaux (1898).^[2]

From the idea of a natural circular shape it was applied in anatomy (1585), in astronomy (les anneaux de Saturne, 1690) and in botany (1767), and finally in algebra to a structure of relations rather than a visible form.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Anel “finger ring” appears in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[8]
• 12th century – Anels is used for a prisoner's irons, and the bishop's ring is named.^[2]
• 1380 – The form anneau appears, as does anneau pontifical.^[2][4]
• 1399 – It is used for betrothal.^[2]
• 1585 – First anatomical use.^[2]
• 1690 – Les anneaux de Saturne is recorded.^[2]
• 1898 – Les anneaux names the gymnastic apparatus.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ring of hard material used to fasten, hold or hang something: les anneaux d'une tringle.^[9][8]
2. A link of a chain.^[9][2]
3. A ring worn on the finger: anneau nuptial (a wedding ring), anneau épiscopal (a bishop's ring).^[8][3]
4. Any ring-shaped thing: the coils of a snake, les anneaux de Saturne.^[2][1]
5. (gymnastics) Les anneaux: the rings.^[2]
6. (mathematics) An algebraic structure, a ring in set theory.^[2]

Word family

• anneler
• annelet
• annelure
• annelé

Related words

• annulaire
• Latin ānellus

Usage notes

Palsgrave reports that in the 16th century both ⟨n⟩ were pronounced; in the 17th century Ménage notes that Parisians were blamed for saying agnau, a pronunciation still heard in some provinces in Littré's day.^[3] The ring finger, annulaire, is named from a Latin derivative of the same word.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 554b
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert