buste

Pronunciation

• IPA: /byst/^[1]

Forms

buste m (plural bustes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian busto (“upper body”) (14th century),^[2][3][4][1] perhaps from Latin bustum (“funeral pyre; tomb”), which could have come to mean “bust” because funeral monuments were often adorned with a bust of the dead.^[3][2][4][5] Rey explains bustum as a back-formation from amburō (“to scorch, burn around”), wrongly divided as “am-burere”.^[2] The TLFi is more doubtful about the source.^[6] In the 16th century it was also written “busque”, by confusion with busc “busk”.^[3]

Cognate with Spanish busto and Portuguese busto.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Paris document of 1356 orders “a list of busts and images” beneath a history of Caesar.^[8][4] The usual first dates are 1546 (bust, Charles Estienne and Rabelais) and 1549 (buste).^[2][9][3]

Semantic evolution

The word names the upper part of the human body, from the neck to the waist, and especially a woman's chest.^[2][10] By metonymy, from 1680, it is the sculpture or painting of the head and upper body.^[2][11] Bustier, at first a sculptor of busts, came in 1954–1955 to mean a strapless bodice.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 1356 – Bustes in a Paris document.^[8][4]
• 1546 – Bust.^[2][9]
• 1549 – Buste.^[2]
• 1680 – A sculpted or painted bust.^[2]
• 1954–1955 – Bustier “strapless bodice”.^[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The upper part of the human body, from the neck to the waist; the torso.^[10][1]
2. A woman's breasts, bust.^[10][9]
3. A sculpture of the head and upper body, usually without arms.^[10][12]

Related words

• busc
• Latin bustum
• English bust

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 651a
6. ^ a b c 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
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
12. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)