bloc

Forms

bloc m (plural blocs)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle Dutch blok (“felled tree trunk”) in all likelihood, and its different senses may have been borrowed one after another.^[2][3][4][5] Rey prefers this to a borrowing of Middle Low German blok, which fits the history less well,^[2] while Bloch and Wartburg allow a Middle High German source with the sense “trunk, block”.^[3] Littré derived it from Old High German bloh.^[6] The GLLF also sees an influence of English block.^[7] Bloch and Wartburg note that the word belonged only to the north of France and spread elsewhere from French.^[3]

The Germanic words, which also include Swedish block and Danish blok, are of uncertain origin.^[2] Jacob Grimm and others identified them with beloke and Old High German biloh (“enclosure, obstruction”), from a verb meaning “to shut”, while Kluge thought them related to the Germanic word for “beam” seen in English balk and German Balken.^[2] Wiktionary traces the Dutch word to Proto-Germanic *blukką (“beam, log”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records, from 1262, use it for an alms box in a church.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

Only at the start of the 15th century did it take the general senses “big piece of wood” (1404) and “mass of a heavy, hard material” (1409).^[2] It named the block in which a prisoner's feet were held (16th century), and the sense “prison” (1837), later “guardroom” (1861), is connected with it;^[2] mettre au bloc is slang, now familiar.^[2] Several crafts used it for their own blocks, such as the engraver's lead block (1676).^[2]

The idea of a whole made of different elements appears in en bloc “all together” (1530) and in the senses “lot of goods” (1573) and “group of things forming a whole” (1779); a pad of sheets glued along one edge is a bloc from 1877, whence bloc-notes.^[2] The sense “group of buildings between streets” (1862) was borrowed from American English block.^[2] In politics bloc has meant a close alliance of parties since 1889, used by Clemenceau, and then an alliance of states;^[2] English took the political sense in 1903.^[9]

Timeline

• 1262 – First recorded, for a church alms box.^[2][8]
• 1404 – It means a big piece of wood.^[2]
• 1409 – It means a mass of heavy, hard matter.^[2]
• 1530 – En bloc “all together” is recorded.^[2]
• 1676 – It names the engraver's lead block.^[2]
• 1837 – Slang uses it for prison.^[2]
• 1862 – It is used for a block of buildings, after American English.^[2]
• 1866 – Larousse records à bloc.^[7]
• 1877 – It names a pad of paper.^[2]
• 1889 – Clemenceau uses it for an alliance of political parties.^[2]
• 1903 – English borrows bloc for political alliances.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A heavy, solid mass in one piece: un bloc de calcaire.^[4][10][5]
2. A pad of sheets glued along one edge; a bloc-notes.^[4][10][5]
3. Elements grouped into one compact unit: bloc moteur, bloc opératoire “operating theatre”.^[10]
4. A whole that cannot be divided: en bloc “wholesale, all together”, faire bloc “to stand together”.^[5][1]
5. A bloc, a group of states or parties united for common action.^[5][1]
6. A block of buildings bounded by streets.^[10][5]
7. (popular) Prison, the cells: mettre au bloc.^[5][2]
8. À bloc: fully, as far as possible: serrer à bloc, gonflé à bloc “full of energy”.^[7]

Word family

• bloc-note
• bloquer
• blocaille

Related words

• Middle Dutch blok
• English block

Usage notes

In medicine, bloc (a heart block) is a separate borrowing of English block.^[5] In Quebec bloc is also used for a children's toy cube and for an apartment building.^[2]

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 n o p q r s t u v w Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)