bâton

Forms

bâton m (plural bâtons)^[1] Old French bastun (1080) and baston (1172–75); written baton in 1440 and bâton in 1680.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French baston, inherited from Vulgar Latin *bastō (“stick”), derived from Late Latin bastum (“long piece of wood, stick”) (4th century), which replaced Classical Latin baculus.^[2][4][5][6] The Late Latin noun is probably, like the homonymous word that gave bât, a noun from the Late Latin verb *bastō (“to carry”), the stick being what bears or supports; the derivative was probably formed to avoid the clash between the names of the pack saddle and the stick.^[2][4][7] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert trace the verb to Ancient Greek βαστάζω (bastázō, “to lift, carry”), which the Petit Robert calls of Mediterranean origin.^[3][5] Etymonline gives Gaulish origin as the other possibility for the Late Latin noun.^[8]

Cognate with Italian bastone, Spanish bastón, Portuguese bastão and Romanian baston.^[5][4][9] The English word baton was borrowed from French in the 1540s.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1080) bastun is a long stick held in the hand, and already the staff that marks authority and command.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

As a sign of command the word gave bâton de maréchal (1680), figuratively the crowning of a career (1832), and the conductor's bâton de mesure (1771), since replaced by baguette.^[2] As a support it gave bâton de vieillesse (13th century) and bâton blanc (1440), the blind man's or pilgrim's peeled stick; in sport it is the ski pole and the mountaineer's stick (1787).^[2] In Quebec it is also a hockey stick or baseball bat.^[2]

From the jugglers' tour de bâton, a secret profit (late 17th century), came retour de bâton “backlash”.^[2] Mener une vie de bâton de chaise, from the poles of a sedan chair, meant a restless and then a disorderly life (1894).^[2] In heraldry bâton is a narrow band (late 13th century), probably the source of à bâtons rompus (1605) “in a broken pattern”, then “in desultory talk” (Furetière, 1690).^[2] Mettre des bâtons dans les roues “to put obstacles in the way” dates from 1807.^[2] By likeness of shape it is a stick of something (bâton de rouge) and the vertical stroke children draw when learning to write.^[2][1]

Timeline

• 1080 – Bastun appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[2][4]
• 1172–75 – The form baston.^[2]
• Late 13th century – Used in heraldry.^[2]
• 1440 – Bâton blanc and the spelling baton.^[2]
• 1540s – English borrows baton.^[8]
• 1605 – À bâtons rompus is recorded.^[2]
• 1680 – Bâton de maréchal, and the spelling bâton.^[2]
• 1807 – Mettre des bâtons dans les roues.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A stick, staff or cudgel: a long round piece of wood held in the hand: il marchait en s'appuyant sur un bâton de noyer.^[5][7]
2. A staff as a symbol of authority: bâton de maréchal.^[2][5]
3. A ski pole: bâton de ski.^[5][2]
4. (Quebec) A hockey stick or baseball bat.^[2][5]
5. A stick of a substance: bâton de rouge, bâton de craie.^[1][5]
6. A vertical stroke in writing or a bar in a bar chart.^[2]
7. (heraldry) A baton, a narrow band.^[1][2]

Word family

• bâtonner
• bâtonnet
• bâtonnier

Related words

• bât
• Late Latin bastum

Usage notes

Parler à bâtons rompus is to talk of this and that;^[2][1] mettre des bâtons dans les roues is to put obstacles in someone's way;^[2][1] la carotte et le bâton is reward and punishment.^[2][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 r s t u v w x y z 27 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
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. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 279a
7. ^ a b 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. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette