bague

Forms

bague f (plural bagues)^[1]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.^[2][3] The word first appears as wage (about 1360, in Froissart), then in its present form (1416) and vaghe (1432, in a text from Douai).^[2][4][3]

According to Bloch and Wartburg, the GLLF, the Petit Robert and Picoche, it is probably borrowed from Middle Dutch bagge (“ring”),^[4][5][6][7] which contains a root meaning “to bend”, as do Old Norse baugr (“ring”) and German biegen (“to bend”).^[4][5] The DHLF supports this with the northern location of the first records and compares an East Frisian word of the same meaning.^[2] Wiktionary traces the Dutch word to Proto-Germanic *baugaz (“ring, circlet”).^[1]

The other explanation goes back to Latin baca (“berry”), which Horace used for a pearl and which later named the link closing a chain;^[2][8] Meyer-Lübke derives the French word from Old Occitan baga,^[9] and the DMF follows the FEW in filing the ring under the Latin word.^[10][11] The DHLF objects that this needs an Occitan intermediary recorded too late (1462), which hardly fits the northern location and the spellings with ⟨w⟩ and ⟨v⟩.^[2] Guiraud, noting the homonymy of the words for “ring” and “bag”, proposed Latin vacua (“empty or hollowed thing”), from vacuus (“empty”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

As wage, about 1360 in Froissart, it means a ring.^[3][4][6]

Semantic evolution

The word names the ring worn on the finger.^[2] From Middle French it was also a nautical term for a ring of iron, wood or rope (1416), and later named other ring-shaped objects, such as the paper band round a cigar.^[2][6] It was the ring that riders carried off with a lance at the gallop in an old game of skill, hence courir la bague (1514), now archaic.^[2][8]

From about 1450 it was extended to all kinds of jewels and precious objects, a use that has disappeared except in the legal phrase bagues et joyaux (1835), the jewels a married woman could take back at her husband's death.^[2][10] The familiar c'est une bague au doigt is said of something profitable and easy.^[12][8] The slang bagouse is recorded from 1919.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1360 – Wage “ring” in Froissart.^[3][4][2]
• 1416 – Bague names a ring used on ships.^[2]
• 1432 – The form vaghe in a text from Douai.^[4][2]
• c. 1450 – It is used for jewels in general.^[2][10]
• 1514 – Courir la bague is recorded.^[2]
• 1562 – Bagier, later baguier (1618), a ring box.^[2]
• 1835 – The legal phrase bagues et joyaux.^[2]
• 1838 – Baguage in horticulture.^[2]
• 1919 – The slang form bagouse.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ring worn on the finger, especially one set with a stone: bague de fiançailles;^[6][12][5] la bague au doigt, with a promise of marriage.^[6][12][5]
2. A ring fixed to a bird's leg to identify it.^[6][5]
3. A ring-shaped object: the paper band round a cigar;^[6][5][2] (architecture) a ring moulding dividing a column shaft;^[6][5][2] (nautical) a ring of metal, wood or rope.^[6][5][2]
4. (engineering) A ring or collar that joins or holds two parts: bague de roulement.^[6][5]
5. (historical) The ring carried off with a lance in a riding game: courir la bague.^[2][5][8]

Word family

• baguier
• baguer
• baguage
• bagouse

Usage notes

Middle French had a separate bague, mostly in the plural, for “equipment, baggage” (1358), which the FEW files under another etymon.^[10][13]

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 k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f 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 i j Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
11. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 196a
12. ^ a b c 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
13. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 204a