coffre

Forms

coffre m (plural coffres)^[1] Old French cofre; the spelling coffre is found from the late 14th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French cofre, inherited from Late Latin cophinus (“basket”), which is from Ancient Greek κόφινος (kóphinos, “basket”).^[2][4][5][1] The sense “chest, box” arose in Medieval Latin.^[2][5] Rey calls the Greek word a technical term of unknown origin.^[5]

The Latin sense “basket” lives on in Italian cofano and Spanish cuébano “grape-picker's basket”, but was lost in French.^[5][6] The Latin word was taken again in the 13th century as coffin, with the Latin sense;^[6][1] Wiktionary names couffin as a doublet.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as cofre about 1165 in Chrétien de Troyes' Erec, for a chest.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The chest was a main piece of medieval furniture, and the word took specialized senses after its uses: a box for money and valuables (1291), whence coffre-fort (1543), and les coffres “the treasury” (late 14th century, Froissart).^[5][2] In Villon's jargon it meant prison, the sense behind coffrer “to lock up” (1562).^[2][5]

By likeness of shape it named the trunk of an animal's body (1561) and then of a person, and familiarly the stomach (1636, coffre naturel); hence avoir du coffre “to have plenty of breath”, said of a singer.^[2][5] Richelet uses it for the body of a harpsichord in 1680.^[2] The storage space at the back of a carriage (1690) gave the sense “boot of a car” at the end of the 19th century.^[5] Littré records piquer le coffre, to wait long in a great man's antechamber, where the only seats were chests.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – Cofre appears in Chrétien de Troyes' Erec.^[2]
• 1291 – Used for a box for valuables.^[5][7]
• late 14th century – Froissart uses les coffres for a king's treasury.^[2]
• 15th century – Villon's jargon uses it for a prison.^[2]
• 1543 – Coffre-fort is recorded.^[5]
• 1561 – Du Fouilloux uses coffre du corps for an animal's trunk.^[2]
• 1636 – Rotrou uses le coffre naturel for the stomach.^[2]
• 1680 – Richelet records the sense “body of a harpsichord”.^[2]
• 1690 – Used for the storage space of a carriage.^[5][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A chest, a box-shaped piece of furniture with a lid: un coffre à jouets.^[9][2][1]
2. A strongbox; a safe or a safe-deposit box in a bank.^[9][5]
3. The boot (UK) or trunk (US) of a car.^[1][9][5]
4. (dated) Les coffres de l'État: the public treasury.^[7][2]
5. (familiar) The chest;^[5] avoir du coffre, to have a powerful voice or plenty of breath.^[5]
6. Poisson-coffre: the boxfish.^[5]

Word family

• coffre-fort
• coffret
• coffrer
• coffrage
• décoffrer
• encoffrer

Related words

• couffin
• coffin

Usage notes

Littré noted that some pronounced the word with a long o, a pronunciation he thought unjustified.^[8] Since 1901 popular French has had coffiot for a safe.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1152b
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert