Etymologically
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chapiteau

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 21:00. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʃa.pi.to/[1]

Forms

chapiteau m (plural chapiteaux)[1] Old French chapitel.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chapitel, inherited from Late Latin capitellum, a diminutive of Latin caput (“head; top”) used in Late Latin as a term of architecture for the widened top of a column.[2][3][4][5] Bloch and Wartburg call it a Frenchified form of the Late Latin word,[4] and Wiktionary a probable semi-learned borrowing.[1] In this sense “capitellum” came before capitulum, the source of chapitre.[3]

Cognate with Occitan capitel, Spanish capitel and Italian capitello.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Roman d'Eneas (about 1160) has chapitel for the top of a column.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Since the capital is often ornamented, the word was extended to crowning ornaments in general and, in 1690, to the cornice of a piece of furniture.[2][3] The sense “small cover, covering” gave several technical uses: the head of an alembic where vapours condense, the movable roof of a windmill and the conical roof of a beehive.[3][8][6]

In 1905 a magazine explained the chapiteau of a circus as the funnel-shaped canvas roof covering travelling circuses;[9] it now names the circus tent and, by metonymy, the circus itself (sous le chapiteau).[3][10]

Timeline

  • c. 1160 – Chapitel in the Eneas.[2]
  • 15th century – Christine de Pisan's gilded chapiteaux.[6]
  • 1690 – The cornice of a piece of furniture.[2]
  • 1694 – The roof of a windmill and of a beehive, in Thomas Corneille.[8]
  • 1905 – The circus tent.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (architecture) The capital of a column or pilaster: chapiteau corinthien, chapiteau roman historié.[10][11]
  2. A crowning ornament; the canopy over a statue in a niche.[10][8]
  3. The head of an alembic.[10][1]
  4. A circus big top; a large tent for shows or events; by extension, the circus.[10][1]
  5. (aeronautics) The nose cone of a rocket.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 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, 259a
  6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)