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
- A path, track or country road: un chemin de terre, un chemin creux.[8][9]
- The way, route to a place: demander son chemin.[10]
- The distance covered or to be covered: faire du chemin, à mi-chemin.[10][3]
- (figurative) A way, course, means: le droit chemin, faire son chemin.[3][11]
- Chemin de fer: railway.[3]
- Chemin de ronde: a parapet walk along a wall.[8][11]
- (Louisiana) A road.[1]
- (Quebec) Mettre au chemin: to throw away.[3]
Word family
- acheminer
- cheminement
- cheminer
- mi-chemin
- chemineau
- cheminot
- chemin de fer
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 144b
- ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
- ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
- ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
- ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse