chevet

Forms

chevet m (plural chevets)^[1] Old French chevez, chevès, chevais, Picard cavés, cavec.^[2][3] Anglo-Norman chevés.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chevez, inherited from Latin capitium,^{[2][5][6][1][7]} derived from caput (“head”).^[2][8] In classical Latin the word was a woman's bodice slipped over the head and the neck opening of a tunic;^[2][5] Medieval Latin used it for the head of a bed (881) and for a part of a church (1060).^[2][5] Bloch and Wartburg note that the French senses are not found in Latin, but that Old Occitan has both.^[6]

The modern form arose by a change of suffix, according to Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Larousse and Rey;^[6][9][5] the TLFi also gives the view that the Old French form was taken for an inflected form with final /s/.^[2] Littré saw the modern form as a diminutive of chef “head”, confused with the regular Old French chevès.^[3]

Cognate with Old Occitan cabetz (“bed head, neck opening”);^[2] Picard has cavet.^[3] The same Latin word, or its derivatives, gave other Romance words for “top” or “halter”, as in caveçon.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1174 as chevez in Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence's life of Saint Thomas, meaning a bolster that supports the head.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The bolster sense gave way to that of the head of the bed (about 1450), which produced the phrase au chevet de quelqu'un “at someone's bedside” (about 1450) and livre de chevet “bedside book” (1828, Sainte-Beuve).^[2][5] The Grand Larousse records the classical épée de chevet, a dagger kept under the bolster at night, used figuratively of a friend one can count on or of a topic one keeps coming back to.^[9]

In architecture the word has named the end of a church beyond the nave since the 13th century, first in the Picard form cavec.^[2][5][10] Technical uses followed: the lead lining at the edge of gutters (1694, Thomas Corneille) and, in mining, the bed of a lode (1842).^[2][5] In some Gallo-Romance dialects, notably Picard, it means a cushion or pillow.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1174 – Chevez “bolster” appears in Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence's Vie de saint Thomas.^[2][5]
• 13th century – The Picard form cavec names the end of a church.^[2][5]
• 1281 – Anglo-Norman chevet is recorded for a headland.^[4]
• c. 1450 – Au chevet du lit “at the head of the bed” appears; the form chevet is established.^[2][5]
• 1694 – Thomas Corneille records the lead lining of gutters.^[2]
• 1828 – Sainte-Beuve uses livre de chevet.^[2][5]
• 1842 – It is used in mining for the bed of a lode.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) A long bolster at the head of a bed.^[10][9]
2. The head of a bed;^[10][11] table de chevet, a bedside table, lampe de chevet, a bedside lamp.^[10][11]
3. Livre de chevet: a favourite book, one kept by the bed.^[10][11]
4. Au chevet de quelqu'un: at someone's bedside, especially a sick person's.^[10][11]
5. (architecture) The end of a church beyond the nave, behind the choir, and its outer face.^[10][2]

Word family

• table de chevet
• livre de chevet

Related words

• chef
• caveçon
• Latin capitium

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 260b
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)