chevreuil

Forms

chevreuil m (plural chevreuils)^[1] Old French chevrol, chevroel, chevruel, then chevreul, the usual form until the 17th century;^[2][3][4][5] chevreuil is recorded in 1680 by Richelet.^[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chevrol, inherited from Latin capreolus (“roe deer”), a derivative of caprea (“wild goat, roe”), itself from capra (“she-goat”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The old form chevreul was replaced by the present form, made by analogy with words in ⟨-euil⟩ such as deuil and écureuil, helped by the old plural chevrieus.^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg date the change to the 17th century.^[5]

In Latin the noun named both the roe deer and the chamois, and by likeness to the animal's horns also a hoe and the tendrils of the vine.^[3][7] Cognate with Italian capriolo, Old Occitan cabrol, Catalan cabirol and Romanian căprior.^[5][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Voyage de Charlemagne (first half of the 12th century) chevrol names the roe deer.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

Only the sense “roe deer” passed into French.^[3] By metonymy the word also names the horn call sounded in hunting roe deer with hounds (1922).^[3] In Canada it was applied to an American species, the white-tailed deer: chevreul in 1613, and earlier, in 1586, in an account of a voyage to Florida; this sense is still in common use.^[3][10][11]

The Latin sense of the vine tendril survived in Middle French in the feminine chevrolle and in some dialects.^[3]

Timeline

• 1100–1150 – Chevrol in the Voyage de Charlemagne.^[2][9]
• c. 1175 – Chevruel in Chrétien de Troyes's Chevalier au lion.^[2]
• c. 1268 – Chevreul in Brunetto Latini's Trésor.^[2][3]
• 1586 – Used for an American deer in a narrative of a voyage to Florida.^[3]
• 1613 – Chevreul for the white-tailed deer of Canada.^[3]
• 1680 – Richelet records the form chevreuil.^[2][3]
• 1739 – The derivative chevrillard “young roe deer”.^[3]
• 1922 – The name of a hunting call.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A roe deer, a small wild ruminant of the deer family with a fawn coat and a white belly.^[10][2][9]
2. The meat of the roe deer, venison.^[10][2]
3. (Canada) The white-tailed deer.^[10][1]

Word family

• chevrillard

Related words

• chèvre
• chevrette
• Latin capreolus

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 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 m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 304a
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF