chasuble

Forms

chasuble f (plural chasubles)^[1] Old French chesible and chesuble.^[1][2] Anglo-Norman chaisuble, chasible, cheisible.^[3] Forms from the shorter Latin word: casule, casure.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chesible, inherited from Late Latin casubla (“a kind of garment”) (Gregory of Tours, 6th century), also casubula.^{[1][4][5][6][7]} The origin of the Late Latin word is disputed.^[4][5] It is probably an alteration of casula (“hooded cloak”) (Isidore), itself a figurative use of casula (“little hut”), diminutive of casa (“hut, cottage”).^[4][5][6] The proposed *casupula (“round-roofed hut”), a cross of that word with cūpula (“small vat”), is hard to reconcile with the sense.^[4][5] Spitzer posited *casubula, formed on the noun for “hut” with the suffix -bulum.^[4] Littré also derived it from a casibula.^[2]

The Spanish word casulla was reshaped after cogulla.^[6] The English word chasuble, first cheisible (about 1300), is from the Old French word.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in the last third of the 12th century in the Vie de saint Gilles, naming the priest's vestment for Mass;^[4] the Petit Robert and the GLLF date the same text to 1138.^[9][10]

Semantic evolution

The word names the liturgical vestment the priest puts on over the alb and the stole to say Mass.^[9][5] In 1893 Jules Renard extended it to a loose, enveloping garment, and in modern fashion it names a sleeveless garment of the same shape, chiefly in apposition: robe chasuble.^[4][5][9]

English took the word from Old French about 1300 as cheisible; the English form was brought into line with the French one about 1600.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – First record, in the Vie de saint Gilles, dated to the last third of the 12th century by the TLFi and to 1175 by the DHLF.^[4][5]
• c. 1300 – English borrows the word as cheisible.^[8]
• 1863 – Littré records the derivative chasublerie.^[4]
• 1893 – Jules Renard uses it of an enveloping garment.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A chasuble, the liturgical vestment of two panels worn by the priest over the alb and stole to celebrate Mass: une chasuble violette.^[9][4]
2. By extension, a sleeveless garment of similar shape: une robe chasuble.^[9][10]

Word family

• chasublerie
• chasublier

Related words

• case
• Latin casa
• English chasuble

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 480a
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse