cime

Forms

cime f (plural cimes)^[1] Old French cyme, then cime from the late 12th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French cyme, inherited from Latin cȳma (“young sprout of cabbage”), which in Medieval Latin meant the top of a tree and the summit of a hill.^[3][2][4][5] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek κῦμα (kûma), literally “something swollen”, also used of a wave and of a bud or embryo.^[3][2][6] Rey connects it with an Indo-European root meaning “to swell”.^[2] It is a doublet of cyme.^[1]

Cognate with Italian cima, Spanish cima, Portuguese cimo, Catalan cim and Occitan cima.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as cyme in the Jeu d'Adam (last quarter of the 12th century), of the top of a tree: contre terre seront les cymes “their tops will face the ground”.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

French kept only the Medieval Latin sense, the highest part of a mountain, tree or other object.^[2] Already in Old French it took the figurative sense “the highest degree” (late 12th century), in intellectual, moral and religious contexts.^[3][2] Amyot calls the office of censor la cyme de dignité in Rome (1559).^[3][7] The figurative use is now dated.^[9]

In Old French cimier shared the sense “top” before it became a word for a crest.^[2]

Timeline

• 1175-1200 – Cyme “top of a tree” in the Jeu d'Adam.^[3][2]
• Late 12th century – Cime “highest degree” in Robert le Diable.^[3][10]
• c. 1200 – The derivative chimier, later cimier, appears.^[2]
• 1559 – Amyot writes cyme de dignité.^[3]
• 1564 – The derivative écimer is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The pointed top of a tree, rock or mountain, a summit.^[9][3]
2. (figurative, dated) The highest or noblest point of something, the peak.^[9][10]
3. (dated, poetic) Le mont à double cime: Parnassus.^[10][7]

Word family

• cimier
• écimer
• cimeau

Related words

• cyme
• Latin cȳma

Usage notes

A separate, informal cime is a clipping of cimetière “cemetery” in France.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1608a
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse