besaiguë

Forms

besaiguë f (plural besaiguës)^[1] Old French besagüe (1160), biesagüe (before 1188) and besague.^[2][3][4] Also bisaiguë, recorded from the 18th century.^[5][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *bisacuta (“twice sharp”), the feminine of bisacūtus taken as a noun, short for ascia bisacuta (“double-edged adze”).^{[6][2][3][4][7]} The Latin noun is found as a feminine noun meaning “axe” in Medieval Latin of the 9th and 10th centuries.^[2][3] It is formed from bis (“twice”) and acūtus (“sharp”), and its sounds developed in the same way as those of aigu.^[3][6][2]

Compare Italian bisacuto.^[1] The form bisaiguë was influenced by Italian bisegolo (“double-edged tool”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Wace's Roman de Rou (1160) the carpenters carry great axes on their shoulders and besagües hanging at their sides, so the first sense is a carpenter's tool.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Soon after, the word also named a medieval weapon, an axe with two opposite cutting edges: in Partonopeus de Blois (before 1188) a knight wears his biesagüe beside his dagger.^[2][3] Rutebeuf in the 13th century compared people who are “double tools” to the besaguz, which cuts on both sides.^[8] The weapon is now historical, while the carpenter's tool, sharpened at both ends, survives as a technical term.^[3][6] In 1752 the Trévoux dictionary records a glazier's hammer of the same name.^[2]

Claudel used hache besaiguë as an adjective in his 1896 translation of Aeschylus, which the TLFi takes as a calque of a Greek word for “double-edged”.^[2]

Timeline

• 1160 – Wace's Roman de Rou names a carpenter's tool besagüe.^[2][3]
• before 1188 – Partonopeus de Blois uses biesagüe for a weapon.^[2][3]
• c. 1190 – Garnier de Pont-Sainte-Maxence writes besague.^[4]
• 16th century – Ronsard writes bisaguë.^[8]
• 1752 – The Trévoux dictionary records it for a glazier's hammer.^[2]
• 18th century – The form bisaiguë appears.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (carpentry) A carpenter's tool sharpened at both ends, one end shaped as a chisel and the other as a mortise chisel: Le charpentier creusait la mortaise à la besaiguë.^[9][4][8]
2. A small glazier's hammer.^[9][1]
3. (history) A medieval weapon, an axe or bill with two opposite cutting edges.^[2][4][10]

Related words

• aigu
• bisaiguë

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 378b
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf