Etymologically
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bail

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Pronunciation

Forms

bail m (plural baux)[1] Plural baux.[1][2]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from bailler “to give, hand over”,[3][2][4][1][5] which is inherited from Latin bāiulāre (“to carry on one's back”).[4] The Latin verb is from bāiulus (“porter”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears about 1250 (Livre de justice), in the sense of guardianship of a minor, a very common meaning in the old law.[4][7][8]

Semantic evolution

In Old French bail meant guardianship (Beaumanoir defines it), power, and simply the act of giving, a sense that lasted into the 16th century;[4][8] Loysel writes that le mari est bail de sa femme.[8] The modern sense, a contract by which one party lets another use a thing for a set time and price, is recorded in 1264 and became the usual one in the 16th century.[3][4][2] In some provinces, notably the Dauphiné, bail kept the old sense “giving” in legal phrases such as bail en payement.[9]

Familiarly c'est un bail ! means “it's been ages!” (un beau bail, Vidocq 1829, un joli bail, 1901).[10][2] In Anglo-Norman bail also meant delivery into the custody of sureties.[11]

Timeline

  • c. 1250 – Bail “guardianship”.[4]
  • 1264 – A lease, a contract of letting.[3]
  • c. 1283 – Beaumanoir's definition of bail.[8]
  • c. 1270 – Bailleur.[4]
  • 1829 – C'est un beau bail “a long time”.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A lease: a contract letting property for a fixed time and rent: signer un bail, bail commercial, prendre à bail: to lease.[2][7]
  2. The document recording it.[2]
  3. (familiar) C'est un bail !: it's been ages![2][1]

Word family

  • bailleur
  • bailler
  • bailli
  • English bail

Usage notes

A slang bail (plural bails) “thing, business, stuff” is a different word, borrowed from Haitian Creole bagay, itself from French bagage.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert 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 d e f g 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, 206b
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  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 d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ 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
  10. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)