chemin

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʃə.mɛ̃/^[1]

Forms

chemin m (plural chemins)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *cammīnus, first found as “camino” in a Spanish text before 680, a word of Celtic origin that survived in the Romance languages because Gaulish lived on longer in the countryside.^[2][3][4][5] Bloch and Wartburg compare Welsh cam (“step”) and Breton kamm (“step”).^[4] Wiktionary gives the source as Gaulish *kamman, perhaps with the Latin suffix -īnus, and Meyer-Lübke notes that the modern Celtic forms point to “*camminos”.^[1][6]

Cognate with Italian cammino, Spanish camino, Portuguese caminho and Catalan camí, Picard has camin.^[3][6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found about 1100 in the Chanson de Roland, meaning a way leading from one place to another: Tant chevaucherent es veies e chemins (“so long did they ride along ways and roads”).^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

By the 12th century it meant a direction, as in tourner son chemin vers (Aiol), and later the distance to be covered (1498, Commynes, à mi-chemin, 1489–1491).^[2][3] The figurative sense, a means to an end, is in Guillaume Guiart about 1306, and Froissart has aller le droit chemin about 1360; the image of life as a road gave faire son chemin and the contrast of droit chemin with chemin de traverse.^[2][3] Se mettre en chemin is recorded in 1538 and chemin de ronde in 1676.^[2]

Chemin de fer (1784 in Rey, 1787 in Bloch and Wartburg) translates English railway and became a fixed compound about 1830, Bloch and Wartburg note small horse-drawn railways near Saint-Étienne and Le Creusot before steam.^[3][4] From it came cheminot (1910), a railway worker.^[4] In Canadian French le chemin du roi was the road linking the towns, and mettre au chemin means “to throw away”.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – In the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• 2nd half of the 12th century – “Direction”, in Aiol.^[2]
• c. 1306 – A means to an end, in Guiart.^[2]
• c. 1360 – Le droit chemin in Froissart.^[2]
• 1498 – The distance to be covered, in Commynes.^[2]
• 1676 – Chemin de ronde.^[2][3]
• 1784 – Chemin de fer.^[3]
• 1910 – Cheminot.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A path, track or country road: un chemin de terre, un chemin creux.^[8][9]
2. The way, route to a place: demander son chemin.^[10]
3. The distance covered or to be covered: faire du chemin, à mi-chemin.^[10][3]
4. (figurative) A way, course, means: le droit chemin, faire son chemin.^[3][11]
5. Chemin de fer: railway.^[3]
6. Chemin de ronde: a parapet walk along a wall.^[8][11]
7. (Louisiana) A road.^[1]
8. (Quebec) Mettre au chemin: to throw away.^[3]

Word family

• acheminer
• cheminement
• cheminer
• mi-chemin
• chemineau
• cheminot
• chemin de fer

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e 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, 144b
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse