charpenterie

Forms

charpenterie f (plural charpenteries)^[1] Old French and Anglo-Norman carpenterie, carpentrie and cherpenterie.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French charpentier + -ie.^[5][1] The Grand Robert analyses it with the suffix -erie, and the Petit Robert derives it from charpenter.^[6][7] Charpentier is from Latin carpentārius, under which the FEW files the word.^[8][4][2]

Littré compares Occitan carpentaria, Spanish carpintería and Portuguese carpintaria.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1170 in the Quatre Livres des Rois, meaning the craft of the carpenter: ma gent ne sevent pas tant de charpenterie cume sevent ces de Sydonie “my people do not know as much carpentry as those of Sidon”.^[5][9]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the word named the carpenter's craft and trade, as in the guild statutes of the Livre des métiers (13th century), and the woodwork of a building.^[10][9][2] Figuratively it could mean a hacking of enemies with swords, and the Chanson d’Antioche uses grant carpenterie for the din of armed men.^[3][9] In Middle French it was common in the phrases œuvre, ouvrage and métier de charpenterie.^[4]

The sense “timber yard”, especially for ships, is recorded in 1538 by R. Estienne.^[11][3] In modern French the word names the technique of building timber frameworks and the framework itself, and a yard where timber frames are prepared.^[5][7]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – First recorded in the Quatre Livres des Rois.^[5]
• c. 1185 – Found in Aliscans.^[11]
• 13th century – The Livre des métiers gives statutes for the masters qui appartiennent à charpenterie.^[9][10]
• c. 1370 – Oresme uses it in his translation of Aristotle's Ethics.^[4][9]
• 1538 – R. Estienne records the sense “timber yard”.^[11]
• 1611 – Cotgrave glosses it “carpentry, carpenters' work, the trade of a carpenter”.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. The craft of carpentry, the technique of building timber frameworks.^[7][5][9]
2. The set of timber frameworks used in a building or a ship: la charpenterie de la grange.^[5][9]
3. A carpenter's yard where timber frames are prepared.^[7][11][9]

Related words

• charpentier
• charpente
• charpenter

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon
4. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 399a
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner
11. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
12. ^ Cotgrave, Randle (1611), A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: Adam Islip