barbe

Forms

barbe f (plural barbes)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French barbe, inherited from Latin barba (“beard”).^[1][2][3][4] The Latin word goes back to earlier *farba, Proto-Italic *farðā, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰeh₂ (“beard”).^[1] Rey's DHLF calls it a borrowing from Latin and notes its correspondents in the north-west of the Indo-European domain: Old Church Slavonic брада (brada), Russian борода (boroda), Lithuanian barzdà and Old High German bart.^[5][6]

Cognate with Italian barba, Occitan barba, Catalan barba, Spanish barba, Portuguese barba and Romanian barbă.^[7][6] Littré gives Walloon bâbe.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Recorded about 1050, the word already means the beard of a man.^[5] In the Chanson de Roland an oath is sworn par la barbe qui au pis me ventelet, “by the beard that flutters on my breast”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

As in Latin, the word was extended to animals and plants, where it seems first to have meant a sheaf, as in the old phrase faire barbe de paille, to deceive; it named plants such as barbe-de-Jupiter and barbe-de-chèvre (16th century).^[5] By analogy it was applied to things that recall a beard, in coinage (1676), artillery, astronomy, sailing, dress, locksmithing and confectionery, barbe à papa (1934).^[5]

Middle French had en barbe “face to face” (late 15th century), with faire barbe “to resist”;^[5] à la barbe de (16th century) replaced en la barbe de.^[5] The printers' slang prendre barbe “to get drunk” dates from 1702.^[5] The idea of boredom, in faire la barbe (1866) and the exclamation la barbe ! (1881), probably comes from rébarbatif, and has aged.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – First record.^[5]
• 11th century – Barbe in the Chanson de Roland.^[8]
• Late 15th century – En barbe “face to face”.^[5]
• 16th century – À la barbe de.^[5]
• 1702 – Printers' slang prendre barbe “to get drunk”.^[5]
• 1866 – Faire la barbe “to bore”.^[5]
• 1881 – The exclamation la barbe !.^[5]
• 1934 – Barbe à papa, candyfloss.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Beard: the hair growing on a man's chin and cheeks: se faire la barbe, to shave.^[9][10][1]
2. Long hair on the jaw or chin of some animals, as the goat.^[1][8]
3. The barbels of certain fish; the barbs of a feather.^[1]
4. (botany) The awns or bristles of an ear of grain.^[1][5]
5. Barbe à papa: candyfloss.^[5]
6. (familiar, dated) A bore, a drag; as an exclamation, la barbe !, “what a bore!”.^[9][5][1]
7. Rire dans sa barbe: to laugh up one's sleeve.^[9]
8. À la barbe de quelqu'un: under someone's nose, in spite of them.^[9][10]

Word family

• barbelé
• barbet
• barbette
• barbiche
• barbier
• barbillon
• ébarber
• barbu
• barber
• barbant

Related words

• barbeau
• barbouze
• imberbe
• rébarbatif
• Latin barba

Usage notes

A homograph barbe, masculine, is a Barbary horse, a saddle horse of North Africa (as an adjective in Rabelais, 1534; as a noun from 1619); it comes from Italian barbero, derived from Barberia “Barbary”.^[3][2][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 243b
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 944
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse