bobiner

Forms

bobiner^[1] Middle French babiner, balbiner, babigner (1352 to the 15th century).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French bobine + -er.^{[4][1][3][5][6]} The verb was first written babiner, a form Rey finds hard to explain, until the 15th century.^[3][7] The FEW and the DMF place it under the onomatopoeic radical bob- that the TLFi gives as the probable source of the noun, expressing the movement of the lips and hence something swollen or cylindrical.^[8][2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

As babiner it is documented in 1352, meaning “to wind thread or silk onto a bobbin”;^[2][3] the Grand Robert dates babiner to 1320.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The basic sense, to wind thread onto a bobine, has stayed the same since the Middle Ages; the modern form bobiner is recorded from 1680 in Richelet.^[3][9][7] The verb then followed the technical senses of the noun: in electrical engineering it means to fit the windings of a machine or device.^[3][4] The prefixed verb embobiner (1876) has partly taken its place.^[3]

Timeline

• 1352 – Babiner is documented, as again in 1396 and 1472.^[2][3]
• 1680 – Richelet records bobiner.^[9][7]
• 1876 – The prefixed verb embobiner appears.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To wind thread, silk, tape or film onto a bobbin or reel.^[10][9][4]
2. (electricity) To fit the windings that make up the circuit of a machine or device.^[4][3]

Word family

• bobinage
• bobineur
• bobinoir
• débobiner
• rembobiner

Related words

• bobine
• embobiner

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
7. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 417a
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert