chêne

Forms

chêne m (plural chênes)^[1] Old French chasne, chaisne, chesne, chaidne;^[2][3] Picard quêne.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chesne, probably an early alteration of chasne under the influence of fraisne (now frêne “ash”).^[4][2][5] The TLFi thinks this crossing likelier than Fouché's Vulgar Latin *caxinu.^[2]

This older form is inherited from Vulgar Latin *cassanus, recorded as Medieval Latin casnus in 866, probably of Gaulish or pre-Gaulish origin.^[2][4][6] Ascoli saw in it the Gaulish counterpart of the Greek word for chestnut behind châtaigne.^[2][4] Bloch and Wartburg explain that Latin quercus (“oak”) did not reach Gaul because the oak, a sacred tree of the druids, kept its native name; it survives in Italian quercia.^[5][4] Diez derived the Latin word from an adjective quercīnus, which Littré doubts.^[3]

The word is only Gallo-Romance: Old Occitan casse, Franco-Provençal châno.^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found at the end of the 11th century in the Judeo-French glosses of Rashi, as chasne, chaisne and chesne, for the oak tree.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Like most tree names it also named the wood (about 1225).^[2][4] Names of kinds followed, such as chêne vert (1600) and chêne-liège (1793).^[4] The oak is a symbol of strength, hence fort comme un chêne “very sturdy”;^[4][7] the feuille de chêne ornament is associated in France with the cap of generals.^[4]

Today chêne is the only word in the northern dialects, while in the south it competes with garric and other words.^[5][4]

Timeline

• Late 11th century – Chasne, chaisne, chesne in Rashi's glosses.^[2]
• 1160 – Chasne in the Roman d'Énéas.^[2]
• 1177–1188 – Chaisne and chesne in Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval.^[2]
• c. 1225 – Used of the wood.^[2]
• 1240 – The derivative chesnoie (now chênaie).^[4]
• 1600 – Chêne vert in Olivier de Serres.^[2]
• 1793 – Chêne-liège.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. An oak, a large, long-lived tree whose fruit is the gland.^[8][2]
2. Oak wood: une armoire en chêne.^[8][3]
3. Chêne vert: the holm oak.^[7][3]
4. Fort comme un chêne: very strong and healthy.^[7][3]

Word family

• chênaie
• chêne-liège
• chêneau
• chêneteau

Usage notes

Payer en feuilles de chêne meant to pay in worthless paper.^[3] The near-homophone chéneau “gutter”, from chenal, took its modern form under the influence of chêne.^[4]

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 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique 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. 2, 459b
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert