collier

Forms

collier m (plural colliers)^[1] Old French had two competing forms until the 15th century, coler (1160–1190) and colier (1268).^[2][3] Anglo-Norman spellings include coler, colier, coller and collour.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French colier, inherited from Late Latin collārium, a form of collāre (“collar”) made by a change of suffix and recorded from the 5th century.^[3][5][2][6] The older Old French coler continues the classical form; both lived side by side, and the form in ⟨-ier⟩ won out from the 15th century, though many dialects kept the older one for a cow's or dog's collar.^[5][3] The Latin noun is derived from collum (“neck”), the source of cou.^[2][7]

Cognate with Old Occitan colar, Spanish collar and Italian collare.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as coler in Marie de France's Fables (1160–1190), for a band put round an animal's neck to hold it.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

At first the collar was a practical object: the band round an animal's neck; from 1268 it also named the part of a draught horse's harness, which gave the phrase donner un coup de collier “to make a sudden great effort”.^[3][2][9]

The sense “necklace” appears in 1389, after a fashion newly brought from Byzantium rather than any continuation of the ancient torques.^[3][2] It named both a chain of honour worn by knights and members of orders and a woman's ornament, which became much more common from the 15th century with the cutting of diamonds.^[2]

By likeness, collier named a ring of differently coloured fur or feathers on an animal's neck (1694) and a butcher's cut, collier de bœuf (1690); it also names a short beard joining the hair at the temples.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1160–1190 – Coler appears in Marie de France's Fables.^[3]
• 1268 – Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers uses coliers a cheval for part of the harness.^[3]
• 1309 – The derivative collerette is recorded.^[5][2]
• 1389 – First record of the sense “necklace”, in an inventory of the dukes of Burgundy.^[3]
• 1690 – Furetière records collier de bœuf, a cut of beef.^[3]
• 1694 – The Académie records the sense “ring of coloured fur or plumage”.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A collar of leather, metal or rope put round an animal's neck to tie it up; formerly also worn by slaves.^[9][3]
2. The part of a harness that goes round the neck of a draught animal: cheval de collier, a draught horse.^[9]
3. (figurative) Steady, hard work: reprendre le collier, to go back to work, also donner un coup de collier, to make a short, intense effort.^[9]
4. A necklace or other ornament worn round the neck: un collier de perles; also the chain worn by knights of certain orders.^[9][8]
5. A ring of fur or feathers of a different colour round an animal's neck.^[9][3]
6. Collier de barbe: a short beard trimmed along the jaw to the temples.^[9][2]
7. (butchery) The neck cut of beef or veal.^[3][2]

Word family

• collerette

Related words

• cou
• col
• Latin collum

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c 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, 894a
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert