chaux

Forms

chaux f (invariable)^[1] Old French chaus.^[1] Littré's medieval quotations have cax, chaut, chau, chous and chauc, and the 15th-century chaulx.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chaus, inherited from Latin calx (“lime”).^[1][3][4] Bloch and Wartburg take the Latin word to have meant “stone” at first and to be the same word as Ancient Greek χάλιξ (khálix, “pebble”), to which it owes the sense “lime”.^[5][6] Rey considers it probably borrowed from the Greek word, unless both were taken independently from an unidentified Mediterranean language.^[7]

Cognate with Italian calce, Old Occitan caus, Catalan cals, Spanish cal and Portuguese cal;^[5][8][2] Littré cites Walloon châse and Picard keuche, caus.^[2] German Kalk is from the same Latin word.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Wace's Roman de Brut in 1155.^[3][9] Littré quotes a line from Wace's Roman de Rou in which a builder had cax et pierre “lime and stone” brought.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the Latin sense, the burnt limestone used in building, whitewashing and farming.^[3][10] Brantôme (before 1614) has the figurative n’estre fait ni à chaux ni à sable “to be badly made”,^[3] and in the 15th century Coquillart writes that an argument ne tient à chaulx ne à sablon, “does not hold together”.^[2]

Its derivatives are technical words: chauler “to treat with lime” (1372) won out in the 19th century over chauter (1762) and chauder (1785),^[7][5] and gave chaulage (1764).^[7] chaufour “lime kiln”, first cauffor (1248), is a compound with four, and chaufournier (earlier caufornier, 1200) is the man who works it.^[7]

Timeline

• 1155 – First recorded, in Wace's Roman de Brut.^[3]
• 1200 – Caufornier “lime burner” is recorded.^[7]
• 1248 – Cauffor, later chaufour, “lime kiln”.^[7]
• 1372 – chauler “to treat with lime” appears.^[7][5]
• before 1614 – Brantôme writes n’estre fait ni à chaux ni à sable “to be badly made”.^[3]
• 1764 – chaulage is first recorded.^[7][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. lime, calcium oxide, obtained by burning limestone: une grange blanchie à la chaux.^[10][3]
2. Chaux vive: quicklime, lime containing no water.^[10][6]
3. Chaux éteinte: slaked lime, hydrated lime.^[10][6]
4. Chaux hydraulique: lime that sets under water, used for mortar.^[10][6]
5. Eau de chaux: a solution of lime in water;^[10][6] lait de chaux: slaked lime thinned with water, used as a whitewash.^[10][6]
6. Pierre à chaux: stone burnt to make lime;^[10][2] four à chaux: a lime kiln.^[10][2]

Word family

• chauler
• chaulage
• chaufour
• chaufournier

Related words

• calcaire
• chaussée
• Latin calx

Usage notes

The ⟨x⟩ is never sounded in liaison.^[2] The noun is invariable in the plural.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 107a
5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert