bât

Forms

bât m (plural bâts)^[1] Old and Middle French bast; the spelling bât is late, from 1740.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French bast, inherited from Vulgar Latin *bastum (“that which carries”), a verbal noun from *bastō (“to carry”).^[3][2][4][5] Wiktionary and the GLLF trace the Vulgar Latin verb to Ancient Greek βαστάζω (bastázō, “to lift, bear”).^[1][6] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert also cite Guiraud's proposal of a popular Latin *basitō, from Latin basis (“base, support”).^[7][8]

The word spread from the Mediterranean regions northwards, where it displaced somme² (kept in bête de somme), the older northern word for a packsaddle; the Classical Latin clītellae disappeared everywhere.^[3][2][4] Bloch and Wartburg note that the new terms came from Greek or Arabic, from regions where pack animals were used more.^[4]

Cognate with Italian basto, Spanish basto and Old Occitan bast.^[4][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the 13th century in the trade regulations of the Livre des métiers, where a horse carrying goods en bast owes a toll, in the sense of a packsaddle.^[3][9]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its concrete sense of a frame strapped on a pack animal's back.^[2] By metaphor it stands for a burden or constraint, above all in the phrase c'est là que le bât blesse “that is where the trouble lies”, found as le bast m'en blesse about 1357 and in the Farce de Maître Pathelin (1464).^[3][2]

Cheval de bât (1740) was said first of a dull, stupid man and later of a man who does the heavy chores; the phrase has since gone out of use.^[2][3][9] The derivatives date from Middle French: bâtier (before 1292), bâter (1549), embâter and débâter (15th century).^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1265 – First record of the form bast.^[2]
• 1268 – Date given by the Grand Robert for bast.^[7]
• c. 1357 – Je scay mieulx ou le bast m'en blesse: the figurative phrase appears.^[3][2]
• 1464 – The Farce de Maître Pathelin has c'est là que le bât le blesse.^[3]
• 1740 – The Académie records cheval de bât of a dull, clumsy man, and the spelling bât.^[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A packsaddle, the frame fixed on the back of a pack animal to carry a load: un mulet de bât, Il charge le bât sur l'âne.^[3][8]
2. (figurative) A heavy burden, yoke or constraint.^[3][6]
3. C'est là que le bât blesse: that is the sore point, the weak spot.^[8][6]

Word family

• bâter
• bâtier
• bâtine
• débâter
• embâter

Related words

• bâton
• baste
• somme²

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 d e f g h i j 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 279b
6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette