chablis

chablis¹ fallen timber

Pronunciation

• /ʃa.bli/^[1]

Forms

chablis m or f (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

The word for fallen timber is formed from French chabler + -is, the verb meaning “to knock down” and, in country speech, “to beat down nuts with a pole”.^[2][3][4][5] It was first an adjective, in bois chablis “wood blown down by the wind”.^[2][4] An Old French noun formed from the same verb had the same sense before 1223.^[2][5]

The origin of the verb is disputed.^[2][4] Rey, the Grand Robert and Bloch and Wartburg derive it from the Old French noun chaable (“siege engine for hurling stones”), from Vulgar Latin *catabola, from Ancient Greek καταβολή (katabolḗ, “a throwing down”),^[4][3][5][6] the family of accabler.^[5][1] The TLFi calls it obscure and gives the same derivation only as a possibility, since the Greek word is not found in the sense “siege engine”.^[2] Wiktionary traces the word to an Old French chableiz.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bois chablis is first found in 1600 in Olivier de Serres, for wood that the wind has nearly blown down, which may be taken at any time of year.^[2][7][5] Larousse's date of 1515 rests on a misreading of an older word for felled wood.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The adjective became a noun in the 17th century: Monet records chablis alone in 1635.^[2] It belongs to the language of foresters and covers any tree brought down by wind, storm or snow, or falling from age or rot, without human help.^[2][8] Cotgrave also records a noun chable in this sense in 1611.^[9]

Timeline

• 1600 – Olivier de Serres writes bois chablis.^[2][4][5]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records chable in the same sense.^[9]
• 1635 – Monet records chablis as a noun.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (forestry) A tree or wood blown down by the wind or broken by snow or ice, or fallen from age: Les bûcherons ont dégagé les chablis du sentier.^[8][10][2]

chablis² wine

Pronunciation

• /ʃa.bli/^[1]

Forms

chablis m or f (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the wine is from French vin de Chablis (“wine of Chablis”) by shortening, after Chablis, a town in the Yonne, in Burgundy, at the centre of the area where the wine is made.^[2][4][3] Rey and the Grand Robert take the town's name from chablis¹, a place where trees are often blown down.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Vin de Chablies is found shortly after 1223 in Henri d'Andeli.^[2][4] The wine itself is called Chably in 1718 and chablis in 1789.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The shortened name of the dry white Burgundy has kept one sense.^[2][4] Dated records of the noun vary: the Petit Robert of 1977 gave 1834, the TLFi Scribe's La Camaraderie of 1837.^[11][2] Littré warns against the spelling and pronunciation Châblis.^[7] In English Chablis is recorded from the 1660s.^[12]

Timeline

• shortly after 1223 – Henri d'Andeli writes vin de Chablies.^[2][4]
• 1660s – English Chablis is first recorded.^[12]
• 1718 – The wine is called Chably.^[3][4]
• 1789 – Chablis is used alone for the wine.^[3][4]
• 1837 – Scribe uses it in La Camaraderie.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dry white wine from the area of Chablis in Burgundy: Il a commandé une bouteille de chablis avec les huîtres.^[2][8][10]