contour

Forms

contour m (plural contours)^[1]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from French contourner, the verb being first recorded as contorner in 1311 but already implied by the noun about 1200.^[2][3][4] The verb comes from Vulgar Latin *contornō, recorded only from the 8th century and formed from cum and tornō (“to turn”).^[3][4] The sense “outline of a figure”, a term of the fine arts from 1651, was probably taken over from Italian contorno, of the same origin.^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1200 the Vie de saint Jehan Bouche d'Or uses it for an enclosure or surrounding wall.^[2][3] In Middle French it also meant a strip of land along the edge of something.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the plural contours meant the surrounding area, as in as contours “round about” (1291);^[2] Littré still records les contours “the outskirts” as dated, and Bloch and Wartburg note that the sense “surroundings, edge of a field” lives on in the dialects.^[7][4] In the 16th century it meant a detour or turn (1548), a sense that did not survive in France,^[2][3] and Montaigne used it of a sudden change.^[7]

The modern sense, the line that bounds a body, an object or a figure, appeared in 1651 in art, in Fréart de Chambray's translation of Leonardo's treatise on painting, under the influence of Italian contorno.^[2][3] The Académie recorded it in 1694 as a term of painting and sculpture.^[8] From this use come the technical senses in geometry, optics, military science, medicine and acoustics.^[3] English took contour from French in the 1660s as a term of painting and sculpture.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – First recorded, meaning “enclosure”, in the Vie de saint Jehan Bouche d'Or.^[2]
• 1291 – As contours “round about” in a charter of the county of Rethel.^[2]
• 1311 – The verb contorner is first recorded.^[3]
• 1548 – Thomas Sébillet uses it for a detour.^[2]
• 1651 – The sense “outline” appears in the fine arts.^[2][3]
• 1660s – English borrows contour.^[9]
• 1694 – The Académie records it as a term of painting and sculpture.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The outline or outer limit of an object, a body or a figure: le contour d'un étang.^[10][11]
2. The lines and curves of the human body, or of the face.^[10][12]
3. A line bounding a rounded area, such as a square or a town.^[13][11]
4. (figurative) The general shape or outline of something: un plan aux contours flous.^[11]
5. A bend or turn in the course of a river or a road.^[11][13]

Related words

• contourner
• contourné
• tourner
• tour³
• Italian contorno
• English contour

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Académie française (1694), Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie françoise, 1st ed., Paris: Coignard
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
13. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse