arrière-ban

Forms

arrière-ban m (plural arrière-bans)^[1] Old French riere ban (about 1155), arriereban (1167) and arier ban (before 1188).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French arriereban, an alteration by folk etymology after arrière of Old French herban, also arban and araban, borrowed from Frankish *hariban (“summons to the army”).^{[3][4][5][6][2]} The Frankish word is a compound of *hari (“army”) and *ban (“proclamation”), comparable to Old High German heriban and modern German Heerbann.^[2][6][5][7] Medieval Latin borrowed it as heribannus, first for a fine on those who evaded service in the army, then for a money levy replacing it.^[2][8]

Littré, following Ménage, granted that the word could be explained as a French compound with ban, the arrière-ban being the summons of the rear-vassals as the ban was that of the king's direct vassals, but held that the Medieval Latin aribannum had been reshaped after the French adverb.^[8] Bloch and Wartburg likewise allow that it might be a simple French compound.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the 12th century it meant the general summons of the fighting men: Jean Bodel's Chanson des Saisnes has a lord send par tout l'arriere ban through his land.^[8][5]

Semantic evolution

In feudal law the word named the services a lord could demand to buy off the obligation of the army, and later, from 1301, the summons of the rear-vassals; it then came to mean the body of rear-vassals itself.^[2][9] Joinville speaks of the count of Poitiers bringing l'ariere ban de France.^[8]

Early on it took the figurative sense “last resort” (about 1250), which later gave way to “the whole set of people linked in some way”, mostly in the phrase le ban et l'arrière-ban.^[2][9][5]

Timeline

• c. 1155 – First recorded as riere ban.^[2][3]
• 1167 – The form arriereban appears.^[2]
• c. 1250 – Used figuratively for a last resort.^[2]
• 1301 – Used for the summons of the rear-vassals.^[2]
• 1830 – Hugo uses it for a body of faithful friends.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (feudalism) The summons by the king or a great lord of all his vassals and rear-vassals to armed service.^[4][8]
2. (feudalism) The body of rear-vassals or troops so summoned.^[9][4]
3. Le ban et l'arrière-ban: everyone one can call on, the whole of a group: Elle a réuni le ban et l'arrière-ban de sa famille.^[5][9]

Related words

• ban
• arrière
• Frankish *hariban
• German Heerbann

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 158a
8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e 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