baïonnette

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ba.jɔ.nɛt/^[1]

Forms

baïonnette f (plural baïonnettes)^[1] First written bayonette (1572) and bayonnette.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is from French Bayonne + -ette, from the name of the town of Bayonne in the Basque Country, which had arms and cutlery workshops in the 16th and 17th centuries and where the weapon was first made.^[2][4][5][6] D'Aubigné also speaks of a “couteau bayonnois”, a Bayonne knife.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded from 1572 (Bloch and Wartburg: 1575; the GLLF cites Tahureau, 1555).^[2][4][7] Tabourot des Accords plays on “bayonnettes de Bayonne” in his Bigarrures.^[8]

Semantic evolution

At first a dagger or knife, the baïonnette became the blade fixed to the muzzle of a musket for close combat.^[2][5] By metonymy it named an infantryman (tant de baïonnettes “so many men”),^[8][7] and in the plural armed force, after Mirabeau's famous answer to the king's envoy in 1789 that the Assembly would leave only “by the force of bayonets”.^[7][8]

In the 20th century the way the blade locks onto the barrel gave à baïonnette for a push-and-twist fitting, as in a light bulb or a socket.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 1572 – Bayonette.^[2]
• 1575 – The date Bloch and Wartburg give for the first record.^[4][9]
• 1789 – Mirabeau's “force des baïonnettes”.^[7]
• 20th century – Douille, ampoule à baïonnette.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bayonet, a blade fixed to the end of a rifle.^[5][10]
2. À baïonnette: fastened by a push-and-twist catch, as a bayonet mount or light bulb.^[5][10]
3. (dated) An infantry soldier.^[8][7]
4. (plural) Armed force.^[7][8]

Related words

• mayonnaise
• English bayonet

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
4. ^ a b c d 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 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, 302b
7. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)