branle

Forms

branle m (plural branles)^[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from French branler (“to shake, swing”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The verb is probably a contraction of Old French brandeler (“to waver, sway”), formed on the stem of brandir.^[7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1165 in the phrase prendre son branle “to set off, start moving”, now obsolete;^[7][2][8] Tobler and Lommatzsch record it in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie.^[7][2][8]

Semantic evolution

By about 1250 it expressed a wide swinging movement, a sense that survives in phrases such as se mettre en branle (1835) and être en branle “to be in action”, which in the 17th century meant “to be undecided”.^[7][9] From Old French on, it also named a dance in which one or two dancers led the others, hence the figurative mener le branle “to set the example”, now out of use.^[7][9]

Because of its swaying, a sailor's hammock was called branle (1678), the source of the compound branle-bas (1687), the stowing of the hammocks before a battle.^[7][5] Free use of the noun is now nearly ruled out by the sexual sense of branler, and only en branle remains common.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – Prendre son branle “to start moving”.^[7][2]
• 1250–1260 – First record of the sense “swinging movement”.^[7]
• 13th century – It names a dance led by one or two dancers.^[7]
• 1492 – The Petit Robert dates the sense “dance” from this year.^[4]
• 1678 – Used for a sailor's hammock.^[7]
• 1687 – The compound branle-bas appears.^[7][5]
• 1835 – Se mettre en branle is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) A wide swinging movement, an oscillation, as of a bell: sonner en branle “to ring a bell at full swing”.^[4][9][10]
2. (figurative) The first impulse given to something: donner le branle, mettre en branle, se mettre en branle “to get going”.^[4][9]
3. An old dance of the 16th and 17th centuries, danced in an open or closed chain.^[4][9]
4. (nautical, old) A sailor's hammock.^[9][1]
5. (slang) An act of masturbation.^[1]

Word family

• branle-bas

Related words

• branler
• ébranler
• branloire
• brandir

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/1, 248b
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 1:1123
9. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette