chandelier

Forms

chandelier m (plural chandeliers)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *candelarium, a form of candēlābrum (“candlestick”) with its suffix replaced.^[2][3][4][5] The TLFi too explains it by an early change of suffix in the Latin word, and Bloch and Wartburg argue that the new form must be very old, since it also underlies Italian candelaio and Spanish candelero.^[6][2] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert instead treat it as a French derivative of chandelle.^[7][8] The learned candélabre is its doublet.^[1]

Cognate with Old Occitan candelier.^[4][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi first finds it in 1160, in the Roman d'Énéas, for a candlestick; the GLLF and the Petit Robert date it to 1138, in the Vie de saint Gilles.^[6][3][8]

Semantic evolution

The sense “stand for candles” has lasted, the object often being a precious one in the antiques trade.^[10] By analogy of function it named various supports in seamanship and fortification (1694).^[10][6][3]

Through the phrase tenir la chandelle, it came to mean the person who shields a love affair, especially the one on whom a husband's jealousy is turned to hide the real lover, the sense of Musset's play Le Chandelier (1840).^[10][6][3] In the language of the Bible and of preaching sur le chandelier meant “in a prominent position”.^[3]

The same form, made from chandelle with the suffix -ier, has also named a maker or seller of candles since the 13th century.^[6][2][3]

Timeline

• 1160 – First record in the Roman d'Énéas, for a candlestick.^[6]
• 1268 – Étienne Boileau uses chandelier for a candle maker.^[3][9]
• 1294 – The trade name is recorded at Dijon.^[6]
• 1337 – The feminine chandelière is recorded.^[6]
• 1694 – A support in seamanship.^[6][3]
• 1840 – Musset's Le Chandelier gives the figurative sense.^[6][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A candlestick, a stand for candles, tapers or bougies.^[8][6]
2. Chandelier à sept branches: the seven-branched candlestick of the Temple, a Jewish symbol.^[8][3]
3. (technical) A support or prop, in seamanship and fortification.^[8][3]
4. (figurative, dated) A person on whom a husband's jealousy is diverted to cover the lover.^[8][6]
5. (dated) A maker or seller of candles; feminine chandelière.^[6][3][9]

Related words

• chandelle
• candélabre
• chandeleur

Usage notes

The sense “candle maker” is a separate formation from chandelle with the suffix -ier,^[6][2] also explained from Medieval Latin candelārius.^[1] Littré quotes the Livre des métiers on who may be a chandelier de suif in Paris.^[9] Of a hare, faire chandelier is to sit up on its hind legs to look and listen.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 180b
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert