Etymologically
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barbe

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Pronunciation

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
  • 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