balcon

Forms

balcon m (plural balcons)^[1] Middle French barcon (1404), remade as balcon in 1565; an earlier adaptation baucon is found in Italianizing texts of the early 14th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian balcone,^[2][4][3][1] first adapted as barcon (1404) and remade in 1565.^[2][3] The Italian word (1310–1312) comes from Lombardic *balko (“beam”),^[2][4][5] which corresponds to Frankish *balco.^[2] Compare German Balken (“beam”) and French bau.^[4]

Cognate with Spanish balcón and Portuguese balcão.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word entered the language of architecture during the Renaissance, first recorded as barcon in 1404 and as balcon in 1565 in Philibert Delorme;^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg date Delorme's use to 1567.^[4] It named a platform projecting from the front of a building.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It was still felt as new in 1623, when the Mercure françois glossed it in the margin as “a sort of window that projects outwards”.^[6] From 1704 it also named the railing of such a platform or of a window.^[2] By analogy it was applied to a theatre gallery running from one side of the stage to the other (1784), a sense that later passed into Italian.^[2] At sea it names the open gallery at the stern of a ship and, on a pleasure boat, the stern and bow rails.^[2][6] The diminutive balconnet (1926) names a small railing and a kind of bra.^[2]

Timeline

• Early 14th century – The adaptation baucon appears in Italianizing texts.^[2]
• 1404 – First recorded as barcon.^[2][3]
• 1565 – Philibert Delorme writes balcon.^[3][2]
• 1623 – The Mercure françois explains the word in a marginal note.^[6]
• 1704 – Used for the railing of a balcony or window.^[2]
• 1784 – Applied to a gallery in a theatre.^[2]
• 1926 – The diminutive balconnet appears.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A balcony, a platform with a railing projecting from the front of a building: Elle prend son café au balcon.^[7][6][8]
2. The railing of a balcony or of a window.^[7][6]
3. In a theatre, a gallery above the stalls.^[7][6][2]
4. (nautical) The gallery at the stern of a ship; the rail of a pleasure boat.^[2][6]
5. (figurative) A vantage point.^[9]

Word family

• balconnet

Related words

• bau
• Italian balcone

Usage notes

Il y a du monde au balcon is a familiar way of saying that a woman has a full bosom.^[7][9]

References

1. ^ a b c 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/1, 39a
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse