argile

Forms

argile f (plural argiles)^[1] Old French argille (1190), argile (about 1290), and ardille (about 1175 to the 16th century); arzille and arsille in the 14th and 15th centuries.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin argilla (“white clay, potter's clay”),^[4][3][5][6] which is from Ancient Greek ἄργιλλος (árgillos, “potter's clay”).^[3][7][4] Rey calls the Latin word a probable borrowing from Greek and relates the Greek word to ἀργός (argós, “shining white”) and to Latin argentum (“silver”).^[2] Littré likewise explains it as “white earth”.^[8] The many Old French forms are partly regular sound changes and partly less regular; the western form ardille may be explained phonetically.^[2][9]

Cognate with Italian argilla, Spanish arcilla and Portuguese argila.^[9][3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found as ardille from about 1175 and as argille in 1190, meaning clay, the soft earth used by potters, as in Latin.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the Latin sense of an impermeable, plastic earth, also called glaise, now known to consist of hydrated aluminium silicates.^[2][10] In 1553, translating the Bible, it named the clay from which God formed man, and so came to stand for the human body and human nature.^[2][7] The phrase colosse aux pieds d'argile comes from the Book of Daniel, but is not recorded before the Académie dictionary of 1878.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – The form ardille appears.^[2]
• 1190 – Argille is first recorded.^[2][5]
• c. 1290 – The spelling argile appears.^[2]
• 1331 – Argillière “clay pit” is recorded.^[2]
• 1380 – The adjective is fixed as argileux.^[2]
• 1553 – It names the clay of which God formed man.^[2]
• 1878 – The Académie records colosse aux pieds d'argile.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. clay, a soft earthy rock that takes up water and can be moulded, used for pottery and bricks: un pot en argile.^[10][11]
2. (figurative) The matter of which man is made, human nature.^[7][8]
3. Colosse aux pieds d'argile: a power that looks strong but is fragile.^[2]

Word family

• argileux
• argilière

Related words

• argent
• Latin argilla

References

1. ^ a b 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 199b
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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ 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