Etymologically
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buste

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Pronunciation

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]

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)