chariot

Forms

chariot m (plural chariots)^[1] Old French cheriot (1268) and charrioz (1285).^[2][3] The spelling charriot, in line with the other words of the family, was recommended in 1990.^[4][2]

Etymology

It is formed from French charrier + -ot.^[3][5][2][6] The GLLF and Littré derive it straight from char.^[7][8] Both go back to Latin carrus (“wagon”), a Latin borrowing from Gaulish for a four-wheeled baggage wagon.^[9]

Littré compares Walloon cariot, a part of a spinning wheel.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as cheriot in Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers (1268), in a list of market dues: a cheriot paid four sous, a charete two.^[2][7][8] The TLFi's first record, from 1285, is a royal household ordinance, where it names a four-wheeled wagon.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first sense, a four-wheeled wagon drawn by horses or oxen.^[4][3] By analogy it named the constellation of the Great Bear (1611, in Cotgrave) and a child's go-cart (1680, chariot d'enfant).^[3][4]

From its function it came to name movable parts of mechanisms (1638), in building, weaving and later the typewriter,^[4][2] and in industry a device carrying materials (1838).^[3] In modern use it is also a handling trolley, such as the supermarket trolley or a forklift (chariot élévateur),^[2][1] and in cinema the dolly that carries the camera.^[2][10]

Timeline

• 1268 – Cheriot in Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers.^[2][7]
• 1285 – Charrioz, chariot “four-wheeled wagon” in a royal ordinance.^[3][4]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the astronomical sense.^[3]
• 1638 – Used of a moving part of a mechanism.^[4]
• 1680 – Richelet records chariot d'enfant.^[3]
• 1838 – Industrial sense, a device carrying materials.^[3]
• 1990 – The spelling charriot is recommended.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A four-wheeled wagon for carrying loads: un chariot chargé de bois.^[2][3]
2. Grand Chariot, Petit Chariot: other names of the Great Bear and the Little Bear.^[7][2]
3. A trolley for handling goods or luggage: chariot élévateur “forklift”, the supermarket trolley (in North America, a shopping cart).^[2][1]
4. A small table or cradle on castors: chariot des desserts in a restaurant.^[2]
5. (technical) A moving part of a machine, such as the carriage of a typewriter, a loom or a lathe.^[2][1]
6. (cinema) A dolly, a platform on rails that moves the camera during a shot.^[2]

Related words

• char
• charrier
• charrette
• charroi
• Latin carrus

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 431b
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF