cloche

Forms

cloche f (plural cloches)^[1] Picard and Norman cloque, Burgundian cloiche.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin clocca (“bell”), recorded about 550 in the British Isles and in 690 in Adomnán's life of Columba.^[3][4] The word is of Celtic origin, compare Old Irish cloc (“bell”), and was brought to the continent by Irish missionary monks;^[5][4][3] Rey takes it to be ultimately imitative.^[4] The Wiktionary links it with Proto-Celtic *klokkos and Welsh cloch.^[1]

The same word is found in Old English clucge, Old High German glocka and German Glocke.^[2][1] In Romance it is also found in the dialects of northern Italy, while Italian campana, Spanish campana and Old Occitan campana continue Latin campāna;^[5][6] the French word replaced it in the northern dialects of France.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Voyage de Charlemagne (first half of the 12th century) as the name of the percussion instrument, the bell.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

As the instrument of church life, the bell gave many phrases, such as sonner les cloches and figuratively son de cloche “a point of view”.^[4][7] By likeness of shape it named hollow objects that cover and protect (1538), in particular the glass cover put over melons and delicate plants (1675) and later the cloche à fromage (19th century).^[4][7] The diving bell, cloche à plongeur, dates from 1678, and the bell-shaped woman's hat, chapeau cloche, from 1904;^[4] jupe cloche and robe cloche are recorded from 1895.^[4] In Belgian French it means a blister on the skin.^[4]

In 1718 Leroux's Dictionnaire comique compares wavering people to bells, which can be made to say anything; the TLFi and Rey see here the source of the slang sense “stupid, incapable person” (1872), and cloche “head” is found from 1819 in avoir la cloche fêlée “to be mad”.^[3][4] The Old French derivative clocher “bell tower” (1160–1170) was formed after the Medieval Latin cloccarium.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 550 – Late Latin clocca is recorded in the British Isles.^[3][4]
• first half of the 12th century – Cloche in the Voyage de Charlemagne.^[3]
• 1160–1170 – The derivative clochier “bell tower” appears.^[4]
• 1538 – Used for a hollow object that covers and protects.^[4][7]
• 1675 – The glass cover for plants.^[4][7]
• 1678 – Cloche à plongeur “diving bell”.^[4][7]
• 1718 – Leroux compares indecisive people to bells.^[3][4]
• 1872 – “Stupid, incapable person” in Poulot's Le Sublime.^[3]
• 1904 – The bell-shaped hat.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bell, a hollow bronze instrument struck by a clapper inside or a hammer outside.^[7][3]
2. Son de cloche: an opinion or account of an event: un autre son de cloche.^[7][4]
3. (familiar) Sonner les cloches à quelqu'un: to give someone a severe scolding.^[7]
4. Déménager à la cloche de bois: to move out secretly to avoid paying the rent.^[7]
5. A hollow cover that protects something, especially a glass cloche over plants or a cover for cheese or dishes.^[7][1]
6. Cloche à plongeur: a diving bell.^[7]
7. A woman's bell-shaped hat, also chapeau cloche.^[7][1]
8. (familiar, dated) The head, now in se taper la cloche “to eat well”.^[7][8]

Word family

• clocher
• clochette
• clocheton

Usage notes

The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert enter a separate familiar cloche “a clumsy, foolish person” (1898, être à la cloche “to be a tramp”, 1882), which they derive from the verb clocher “to limp” (compare the old noun cloche “lame person”, about 1300), influenced by cloche “bell”; the same word means tramps as a group, as in être de la cloche (compare clochard).^[9][7] The proverb qui n'entend qu'une cloche n'entend qu'un son means that one must hear both sides before judging.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b 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 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 c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert