cabinet

Forms

cabinet m (plural cabinets)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French cabine + -et, with the diminutive suffix.^{[2][1][3][4][5][6]} The Petit Robert names the base as Picard cabine.^[7] The base itself, first recorded in 1364 in a Lille ordinance for a gaming house, is of obscure origin.^[8][9]

Rey holds that the word was formed in French rather than taken from Italian gabinetto, which seems to have been borrowed from French later, in the 16th century;^[5] the Grand Robert likewise thinks the Italian word, recorded after 1550, probably came from French.^[3] Etymonline, on the other hand, allows that the French word may have been influenced by, or taken from, an Italian diminutive of gabbia (“cage”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1491, in the accounts of the king's pleasures (Compte des menus plaisirs du roi), for a small private room off a larger chamber.^[11][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, a small room set apart from a larger one, survives mainly in a few uses such as cabinet noir, the dark closet where children were shut up as a punishment.^[5] From the 16th century the word named many kinds of such rooms: a bower of greenery in a garden (1536, a sense now lost), a room to withdraw to for thought or work (1539) and later for study (1627), and a room where precious things were kept (1542).^[5] In 1528 it was already also a piece of furniture for storing valuables.^[5][8]

In the 17th century it became the usual name for the lavatory (1690), now mostly in the plural cabinets, and in 1751 cabinet à toilette named the dressing room.^[5] From the place of work it passed to the people working around a political figure (cabinet du Roy, 1606), and then to the body of ministers in a parliamentary system (1708); English borrowed this political sense in 1644, and French took back its parliamentary use.^[5] The room where a professional works gave cabinet d'affaires (1834) and the lawyer's practice (1763), and today the doctor's or notary's cabinet.^[5][11]

English borrowed the word as cabinet in the 1540s, first for a storehouse or case for valuables.^[10]

Timeline

• 1491 – First record, for a small private room, in the royal accounts.^[11][3]
• c. 1515 – Marot writes of amoureux cabinetz, secret nooks for lovers.^[11]
• 1528 – It names a piece of furniture for valuables.^[5][8]
• 1536 – It is used of a green bower in a garden.^[5]
• 1539 – A room where one withdraws to work or think.^[5][7]
• 1542 – A room where precious or curious objects are kept.^[5][7]
• 1540s – English borrows the word.^[10]
• 1606 – Cabinet du Roy names the people around the king.^[5]
• 1690 – Furetière records it for the lavatory.^[12][5]
• 1708 – It names the body of a government's ministers.^[5][8]
• 1751 – Cabinet à toilette is recorded, later cabinet de toilette.^[5][7]
• 1763 – It is used of a lawyer's practice.^[11][5]
• 1834 – Cabinet d'affaires appears.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small room set apart in a flat or house: cabinet de débarras, a lumber room, and cabinet noir, a windowless closet.^[7][4][13]
2. Cabinet de toilette: a small washroom with a basin.^[7][14]
3. (dated) A study where one works: cabinet de travail.^[7][4][1]
4. The premises where a doctor, lawyer or other professional receives clients, and the practice itself: Le docteur a vendu son cabinet.^[4][1]
5. (in the plural) The lavatory, the toilets.^[1][2]
6. (politics) The staff appointed by a minister or prefect to assist them, and the body of ministers forming a government.^[4][1]
7. A room where collections are kept or shown: cabinet de curiosités.^[7][1]
8. A piece of furniture with compartments for storing precious objects, a cabinet.^[5][1]

Usage notes

In Littré's day the final t was not sounded in liaison, while the plural s was.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 14b
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
10. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d e Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
12. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
13. ^ 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
14. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)