châtaigne

Forms

châtaigne f (plural châtaignes)^[1] Old French chastaigne.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chastaigne, inherited from Latin castanea (“chestnut, chestnut tree”), which named both the tree and the fruit.^[2][3][4][5] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek κάστανα (kástana);^[3][2][1] Rey adds that the Greek word probably came from Asia Minor.^[3][2][1] Littré linked the Greek to the towns of Kastana in Thessaly and Pontus.^[6] It is a doublet of castagne.^[1]

The Latin word survives wherever the tree grows: Italian castagna, Spanish castaña, Old Occitan castanha and Catalan castanya.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1180, as chastaigne, in La Mort Aymeri de Narbonne (chastaignes et olives), meaning the nut of the chestnut tree.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Unlike Latin castanea, the French word names only the fruit; the tree is châtaignier.^[3] By likeness it named other fruits, as in chastaigne d'eau “water caltrop” (1561), and, by the look of its prickly husk, it named the sea urchin chastaigne de mer (1564).^[2][3]

Popular speech used it for a blow on the fingers (1635) and later for a slap or a punch (1866, Delvau), like its southern variant castagne;^[2][3] Sainéan explained the sense by the colour and shape of the bruise.^[2][3] In some regions prendre une châtaigne is to get an electric shock, and in African, Haitian and Guianan French it names the fruit of a breadfruit tree.^[3]

Timeline

• 1180 – Chastaigne appears in La Mort Aymeri de Narbonne.^[2]
• 1561 – Chastaigne d'eau names the water caltrop.^[2]
• 1564 – Thierry records chastaigne de mer “sea urchin”.^[2][7]
• 1635 – It means a rap on the fingers in La Sage Folie.^[2][8]
• 1866 – Delvau records it for a slap or punch.^[2][7]
• 1951 – It is used as an adjective of colour, of clothing.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sweet chestnut, the fruit of the châtaignier, enclosed in a spiny husk: faire griller des châtaignes.^[9][2][1]
2. Châtaigne d'eau: the fruit of the water caltrop.^[9][7]
3. (familiar) A punch, a blow.^[9][7]
4. (veterinary) A horny growth on the inside of a horse's leg, the chestnut.^[6]

Adjective

1. (invariable) Chestnut-coloured, reddish brown.^[9][8]

Word family

• châtaignier
• châtain
• châtaigneraie

Related words

• castagne
• marron¹
• Latin castanea

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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
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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 463a
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert