chiffon

Forms

chiffon m (plural chiffons)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French chiffe + -on.^{[2][3][1][4][5]} The base, a word for a rag, is an altered form of Old French chipe (“rag”), recorded in 1306;^[2] the change seems to have taken place in Normandy, under the influence of chiffre in its figurative sense of a thing or person of no value.^[3][2][6] Bloch and Wartburg take the Old French word from chip (“small piece”),^[3] and Wiktionary traces this to Old English ċipp (“chip, splinter”).^[1] Etymonline calls the French word of unknown origin, perhaps a form of the English word chip.^[7] Picoche places it in a family of expressive words built on the consonants ch-p.^[6]

The chiffones found in Medieval Latin, apparently a coarse shoe, is too isolated for Littré to connect with it.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is from 1609, in Mathurin Régnier's Satires, in un chiffon de rabat, a crumpled piece of fabric from a garment.^[2][8] Cotgrave gives the sense “scrap of old cloth” in 1611.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th century chiffon took over the concrete senses of chiffe: a crumpled piece of cloth, a rag of old fabric, and a cloth for cleaning or wiping, as in chiffon à poussière.^[9] It was extended in 1752 to a scrap of crumpled or worthless paper,^[2][9] and figuratively chiffon de papier became a document held in contempt, a treaty signed with no intention of keeping it.^[9][10] In paper-making the word lost its negative sense: papier chiffon is luxury paper made only from rag.^[9][2]

In the plural, chiffons are familiarly women's clothes and finery.^[9][10] English borrowed the word in 1765 for feminine finery, and it has been used from 1890 for a sheer silk fabric.^[7] In African French chiffon de parterre is a floor cloth.^[9]

Timeline

• 1609 – Régnier writes un chiffon de rabat.^[2]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the sense “scrap of old cloth”.^[2]
• 1640 – The derivative chiffonnier is recorded.^[9][3]
• 1752 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux uses it of loose sheets of paper.^[2][9]
• 1765 – English chiffon is first recorded, for women's finery.^[7]
• 1812 – Chiffon de papier appears in Jouy.^[2]
• 1890 – English uses it for a thin silk fabric.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A piece of old cloth, a rag.^[10][2][4]
2. A cloth used for dusting or wiping: chiffon à poussière.^[10][4]
3. Crumpled clothes, or something folded carelessly.^[10][11]
4. Chiffon de papier: a crumpled piece of paper, and figuratively a worthless document or a treaty signed with no intention of keeping it.^[10][11]
5. (familiar, plural) Women's clothes and finery: parler chiffons.^[10][8]
6. Agiter le chiffon rouge: to bring up a controversial subject, by allusion to the bullfighter's cape.^[10]

Word family

• chiffonner
• chiffonnier

Related words

• chiffe
• chiper
• chipoter
• English chiffon

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 319b
6. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse