coquille

Forms

coquille f (plural coquilles)^[1] Old French corquille (about 1170), then coquille (1262–1268).^[2][3] Anglo-Norman spellings include cokille, coquile and kokille.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French coquille, inherited from Vulgar Latin *conchilia, a neuter plural taken as a feminine singular, from Latin conchȳlium (“shellfish, purple dye”).^[5][2][6][7] The Latin word was borrowed from Ancient Greek κογχύλιον (konkhúlion), a diminutive of κόγχη (kónkhē, “mussel, shell”), which also gave conque.^[2][8] The initial /k/ in place of the expected nasal syllable is explained by a crossing with Latin coccum, the source of coque.^[5][6][3][1]

Littré, besides the Latin plural, considered a diminutive of coque with the suffix -ille, as in flottille.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as corquille in Richeut (about 1170), in a figurative sense, “a thing of little value”.^[5][2] The proper sense, a mollusc together with its shell, appears in Brunetto Latini's Trésor (1262–1268).^[5][9]

Semantic evolution

From the shell of the mollusc the word passed to the hard covering of other animals, such as crayfish, and to the shell of an egg, both recorded in the Ménagier de Paris (1393);^[5] in these senses it has gradually pushed aside coque.^[2] The coquille Saint-Jacques, the scallop, is named after the pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela, who fastened one of its valves to their cloak and hat.^[2] Objects shaped like a shell were called coquilles from 1376, a silver salt cellar among them, and the word was later used for a dish served in a shell and for a protective guard worn in combat sports.^[5][2][8]

The old phrase vendre ses coquilles (1350) meant to cheat by selling worthless things.^[5][2] The printing sense “misprint” is recorded in 1723; the TLFi derives it, perhaps, from that phrase, through coquille “deception”, while Rey also mentions the false scallop shells of sham pilgrims and the shape of some letters set upside down, and finds none of these explanations certain.^[5][2]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – Corquille is used in Richeut for a worthless thing.^[5][2]
• 1262–1268 – Brunetto Latini uses coquille for a mollusc and its shell.^[5]
• 1350 – Vendre ses coquilles à quelqu'un appears in Gilles le Muisit.^[5]
• 1376 – An inventory lists a silver coquille, an object shaped like a shell.^[5]
• 1393 – The Ménagier de Paris speaks of the shells of crayfish and of eggs.^[5]
• 1573 – The derivative coquillage is first recorded.^[6][2]
• 1723 – Fertel's treatise on printing has coquille for a misprint.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The hard, chalky shell of a mollusc, such as a snail or a scallop.^[10][5]
2. Coquille Saint-Jacques: the scallop, and its shell, once the badge of pilgrims to Santiago.^[10][2]
3. The shell of an egg or of a nut.^[10][2]
4. (figurative) Rentrer dans sa coquille: to withdraw into oneself, sortir de sa coquille: to come out of one's shell.^[10][1]
5. An object or ornament shaped like a shell, and a dish served in a scallop shell or a shell-shaped dish.^[1][2]
6. (printing) A misprint or typo.^[1][5]
7. (sports) A protective cup worn over the groin.^[1][2]

Word family

• coquillage
• recoquiller
• coquillette
• coquillard
• coquillier

Related words

• coque
• conque
• Latin conchylium

Usage notes

The TLFi notes that écaille was formerly preferred to coquille for the shell of oysters.^[5] Littré still required a palatal l in the pronunciation and rejected the one ending in a plain glide.^[8]

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1002b
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert