chevêtre

Forms

chevêtre m (plural chevêtres)^[1] Old French chevestre, also chavestre.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chevestre, inherited from Latin capistrum (“halter, muzzle”).^[3][1][4][5] The Latin word first named a strap used in a wine press, according to the TLFi,^[3] and the head harness or muzzle of an animal, later a halter, tie or strap, according to Rey.^[6] Rey calls it a word found across the Romance languages and leaves open whether it belongs with Latin caput (“head”) or with capiō (“to take”);^[6] Littré derived it from the latter.^[2]

Cognate with Italian capestro, Occitan cabestre, Catalan cabestre, Spanish cabestro, Portuguese cabresto and Romanian căpăstru.^[7][2] enchevêtrer goes back separately to Late Latin encapistrō (“to put a halter on”),^[3] and cabestan is linked to the same family by Rey.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in the early 12th century in the Lois de Guillaume, meaning a muzzle or halter for a horse: à freins et à chevestres “with bridles and halters”.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The halter sense was the everyday one in Old and Middle French;^[2] Littré's quotations show it in the Paris guild rules of the 13th century and in Froissart, who has the burghers of Calais with chevestres (halters, ropes) round their necks.^[2] It went out of use, replaced by licou, and has been called old since the Encyclopédie (1753).^[3][6]

By likeness to a piece that holds others, the word was applied in carpentry to a timber into which the joists of a floor are fitted (1280–90, in Walter of Bibbesworth's treatise),^[3][6] and in the 18th century surgery took it for a bandage holding the lower jaw after a dislocation or fracture (1741).^[3][6] In modern building it is also a beam of wood, iron or reinforced concrete resting on pillars.^[3]

Timeline

• Early 12th century – First record, meaning “muzzle, halter”, in the Lois de Guillaume.^[3]
• 1280–90 – Chevestre names a piece of timber framing in Walter of Bibbesworth.^[3]
• 1741 – Used in surgery for a jaw bandage.^[3][6]
• 1753 – The Encyclopédie calls the word old.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic) A halter.^[3][8][1]
2. (surgery) A bandage that holds the lower jaw in place after a fracture or dislocation.^[3][9]
3. (architecture) A trimmer, a piece of timber into which the ends of the joists of a floor are fitted.^[3][8][9]
4. By extension, a beam of wood, iron or reinforced concrete whose ends rest on pillars.^[3]

Related words

• enchevêtrer
• cabestan
• Latin capistrum

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 251a
6. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse