barre

Forms

barre f (plural barres)^[1] Old French barre, Anglo-Norman also bare and bar.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French barre, inherited from Vulgar Latin *barra, a Vulgar Latin word whose existence is shown by its Romance outcomes.^[4][5][6] The TLFi compares Medieval Latin barra “barrier”, recorded in the 12th century, and “toll barrier” in 1100.^[4]

The origin of the Vulgar Latin word is uncertain.^[7][1] Bloch and Wartburg call it pre-Roman and mention Gaulish *barro-, known only from proper names such as the town name Bar and thought to have meant “end, tip”, comparing Irish barr (“top”) and Welsh barr (“top, summit”), but they find these senses far from those of the Romance words.^[7][5] Pierre Guiraud saw in it a doublet of Latin vara (“crossbar, forked stick”), from varus (“bent apart”), perhaps crossed with the Celtic word.^[5][8] Wiktionary also mentions a possible source in Frankish *bara (“bar, beam”).^[1]

Cognate with Italian barra, Spanish barra, Catalan barra, Portuguese barra and Old Occitan barra.^[9][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in the Cambridge Psalter of the early 12th century, is the bar of a gate: les barres de tes portes, rendering Latin vectes.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is that of something that closes or separates: the bar of a door, then part of a boar's jaw (1389) and the gap in a horse's mouth (1678).^[4][5] In 1542 it named the rail that separates the judges from the public in a court, and by extension the place where witnesses appear, as in à la barre.^[4][5] In 1678 it was also used of a sandbank across the mouth of a river or harbour.^[4][5]

As something that gives support, it named the crosspiece holding up a cask (1610), and in the 19th century the gymnastic bars (barres parallèles, 1819) and later the dancers' practice rail (1928).^[5][4] The tiller of a ship's rudder is barre in 1678, whence the figurative être à la barre “to be in charge” (1789, Mirabeau).^[4][5]

A straight line drawn like a bar gave the heraldic bend (1461), the game of barres played between two marked lines (1606), with the phrase avoir barre sur “to have the advantage of” (1606), the written stroke (1690) and the bar line in music (1771).^[4][5] Code à barres dates from about 1975.^[5] In familiar French coup de barre is a sudden tiredness (1868).^[10] English took the word in the 12th century, and the French later borrowed back its sense “counter, drinking place” as bar¹.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – First recorded, for the bar of a gate, in the Cambridge Psalter.^[4][5]
• 1389 – Used of part of a boar's jaw in Gaston Phébus's book on hunting.^[4]
• 1461 – Villon uses it in heraldry.^[4]
• 1542 – Marot uses it for the bar of a court of law.^[4][5]
• 1554 – Avoir une barre “to have an advantage” appears.^[4]
• 1678 – Guillet records the tiller and the sandbank at a river mouth.^[4]
• 1690 – Furetière records or en barre and the written stroke.^[4]
• 1771 – Barres de mesure in music.^[4]
• 1789 – Mirabeau uses à la barre for governing.^[4][5]
• 1868 – Coup de barre “sudden tiredness” is recorded.^[10]
• 1928 – The dancers' practice rail.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A long, rigid piece of wood or metal, a bar or rod: Il ferma la porte avec une barre de fer.^[10][4]
2. A bar or ingot of a material: de l'or en barre, also figuratively c'est de l'or en barre “a sure, precious thing”, and a bar of chocolate or nougat.^[10][11]
3. A rail used for support, such as the barre d'appui of a window, the dancers' practice rail, and in gymnastics the barre fixe, barres parallèles and barres asymétriques.^[10]
4. The bar of a high jump or pole vault, and figuratively a level or threshold: Le prix a franchi la barre des cent euros.^[10]
5. (nautical) The tiller or helm of a ship, and figuratively the direction of an affair: être à la barre, tenir la barre, redresser la barre.^[10][1]
6. (law) The rail separating the judges from the public, and the place where witnesses stand: Le témoin s'avança à la barre.^[4][5]
7. A sandbank or line of rocks at the mouth of a river or harbour.^[4][5]
8. A straight stroke or line, as in writing, the bar line of music and the barre oblique (slash).^[4][1]
9. (heraldry) A bend sinister.^[4][1]
10. (familiar) Coup de barre: a sudden fit of tiredness, or a very high price.^[10][11]

Word family

• barreur
• barreau
• barrer
• barrage
• barrette
• barrière
• rembarrer
• barricade
• embarrer

Related words

• bar¹
• embarrasser
• embargo
• Vulgar Latin *barra

Usage notes

The old game of barres has gone out of use, but the phrase avoir barre sur quelqu'un “to have the upper hand over someone” is still alive.^[5] In Quebec French barre is used for a painted line on a road, where France says ligne.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x 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
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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 255b
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse