chevelu

Forms

chevelu (feminine chevelue, masculine plural chevelus, feminine plural chevelues)^[1] Old French spellings include chevelox and kevelu.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from French cheveu + -u,^[3] on the old form chevel of the noun.^[4][5] Wiktionary instead traces it to Vulgar Latin *capillūtus.^[1] The noun itself goes back to Latin capillus (“hair”).^[6][7]

Cognate with Italian capelluto, Catalan cabellut, Spanish cabelludo and Portuguese cabeludo.^[7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Chrétien de Troyes's Perceval (1174–1187) has it in the sense “having hair”.^[3][8] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has the noun “a person with hair” from 1160–1174.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Old French paired it with chauf “bald”: ne chevelu ne chauf meant “nobody at all”.^[2] By analogy it was said of plants and forests in the 16th century (Du Bellay's forêts chevelues).^[3][8] In astronomy it was said of stars (estoile chevelue, 1606) and in the redundant comette chevelue (1680).^[3][8] Furetière noted in 1690 that gardeners called the small roots of a tree le chevelu.^[3] The anatomical phrase cuir chevelu “scalp” dates from 1814.^[3][8]

Littré records la Gaule chevelue, the part of Gaul whose inhabitants wore long hair, and les rois chevelus for the Merovingian kings;^[2] poète chevelu was a mocking name for the young Romantic poets who let their hair grow.^[2]

Timeline

• 1174–1187 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it in Perceval.^[3]
• 16th century – Du Bellay writes of forêts chevelues.^[3]
• 1606 – Nicot records estoile chevelue.^[3]
• 1690 – Furetière records le chevelu for the small roots of a tree.^[3]
• 1814 – Cuir chevelu is recorded by Nysten.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Covered with hair: le cuir chevelu, the scalp.^[10][3]
2. Having long, thick hair: un musicien chevelu.^[10][5]
3. (botany) Of a root, bearing many fine rootlets.^[10][3]
4. (literary) Covered with foliage or trees: des collines chevelues.^[10][5]

Noun

1. Le chevelu: the mass of fine rootlets of a plant.^[10][3]
2. A long-haired person.^[3]

Related words

• cheveu
• chevelure
• échevelé
• Latin capillus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 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. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert