chalet

Forms

chalet m (plural chalets)^[1] Earlier Swiss Romand forms: chaletus (1328, Vaud), plural chaleis (1379, Valais), chaslet (1408, Fribourg), challet (1419, Vaud).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Franco-Provençal chalet, a word of the Romand dialects of Switzerland.^[2][5][3] It first appears there in a Latinized form, chaletus (1328, Vaud), then as chaleis (1379, Valais), chaslet (1408, Fribourg) and challet (1419, Vaud).^[2][3]

According to the TLFi, the FEW, the DHLF and Bloch–Wartburg, it is formed with the diminutive suffix -et on a pre-Indo-European base meaning “mountain shelter, sheltered place”,^[2][6][3][5] which also gave Old Occitan cala (“small shelter for ships”), calanque and cale.^[5][3] Bloch and Wartburg call it a word of one of the pre-Latin languages of the Mediterranean.^[5] The Wiktionnaire also links it to Occitan cala (“shelter”) and rejects a Latin source.^[7]

Wiktionary and Etymonline instead take it as a diminutive of Old French chasel (“farmhouse”), from Late Latin casalis, from casa (“house”).^[1][8] Littré thought of castelletum (“little castle”), but reported a Swiss correspondent's objection that a Latin source would have given the spelling ⟨châlet⟩.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 14th- and 15th-century Swiss Romand documents it is the dwelling of the people working an Alpine pasture;^[2][3] in French it is first recorded in 1723 in Savary des Bruslons's Dictionnaire universel de commerce.^[2][5][10]

Semantic evolution

Rousseau made the word known in French through La Nouvelle Héloïse (1761).^[2][5][3] From the herdsmen's hut where cheese was made, it was extended in 1833 (George Sand) to a country dwelling, especially the wooden house typical of the Alps, and to a house built in that style.^[2][3][11] In France it also named small beach huts and, euphemistically, public toilets, chalet de nécessité (1884).^[3][11]

In Swiss French the word keeps two values, one tied to the summer pasture and the herdsmen, the other to the wooden house used as a holiday home.^[3] In Canada it is a country house by a lake or river.^[3][11][12] English borrowed it in 1782 for a herdsman's hut in the Swiss mountains.^[8]

Timeline

• 1328 – The Latinized form chaletus is recorded in Vaud.^[2][3]
• 1408 – The form chaslet appears in Fribourg.^[2][3]
• 1723 – Savary des Bruslons records it in French.^[2][5]
• 1761 – Rousseau's La Nouvelle Héloïse popularizes it.^[2][5][3]
• 1782 – English borrows the word.^[8]
• 1833 – George Sand uses it for a country dwelling.^[2][3]
• 1884 – Chalet de nécessité “public toilet” is recorded.^[3][11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A herdsman's hut on an Alpine pasture, where cheese is made in summer.^[2][12]
2. A wooden house of the European mountains, with a wide overhanging roof.^[11][12][13]
3. A country house built in the style of Swiss chalets.^[11][12][13]
4. (Canada) A country house by a lake or river, a cottage.^[11][12][13]
5. Chalet de nécessité (dated): a public toilet.^[11][12][2]
6. A small wooden hut on the beaches of northern France.^[11]

Related words

• calanque
• cale

Usage notes

The word is written without a circumflex.^[12] Littré notes that the final ⟨t⟩ is not pronounced, but the plural ⟨s⟩ is linked before a vowel.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h 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, 50b
7. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ a b c d e f g Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
13. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)