couette
couette1 duvet
Pronunciation
- IPA: /kwɛt/[1]
Forms
couette f (plural couettes)[1] Old French coute, coilte, coite, cuete.[2][3][4]
Etymology
The duvet is inherited from Old French coute, inherited from Latin culcita (“mattress, cushion”),[2][3][5][6][7] which developed in two ways according to region, giving coute and coite.[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg think “coute” may have been reshaped after coucher.[8] The Latin word also gave Italian coltrice and Old Spanish colcedra,[3][8] and the Old French form cuilte passed into English as quilt.[9]
Earliest recorded meaning
Benoît de Sainte-Maure (1154–1173) uses coute for a feather bed covered with costly cloth, and Marie de France (1160–1170) coilte for a quilted coverlet.[2][3]
Semantic evolution
The feather bed went out of fashion, and the Académie called the word old in 1762;[2][3] it survived in the provinces and in technical senses, the metal socket on which a hinge or shaft turns (1676) and the timbers on which a ship slides when launched (1694).[2][4] In the late 20th century it came back as the name of the continental quilt or duvet, which replaced sheets and blankets.[6][1]
The old compound coite-pointe “quilted coverlet” was reshaped into courtepointe.[8]
Timeline
- 1154–1173 – Coute, a feather bed.[2]
- 1160–1170 – Coilte, a quilted coverlet.[2]
- 1676 – A metal socket in a machine.[2][4]
- 1694 – Ship's launching timbers.[2]
- 1762 – Called old by the Académie.[2]
Meanings
Noun
- A duvet, a continental quilt.[6][1]
- (dated or regional) A feather bed.[6][4]
- (technical) A socket or bearing on which a pivot turns.[6][4]
Word family
- courtepointe
couette2 pigtail
Pronunciation
- IPA: /kwɛt/[1]
Forms
couette f (plural couettes)[1] Keuete (13th century), queuëtte (1611).[3][5]
Etymology
The pigtail is from Old French coue + -ette, a diminutive of the Old French form of queue “tail”, properly “little tail”.[3][5][6][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
In the 13th century keuete is a little tail.[3][5][4]
Semantic evolution
The word spread in the 19th century as a lock of hair, especially in Normandy, and was usual in Canadian French in the 18th century for the hair of Native Americans (coite 1747, couette 1757), so it must be older in the western dialects.[3] The Goncourts use it for a plait of hair (before 1896).[4] Familiar as it is, it is the only name for a short tuft of hair held by a band or clip, usually worn in pairs by girls;[3][6] in Quebec it means any lock of hair.[3]
Timeline
- 13th century – Keuete “little tail”.[3][5]
- 1747 – Coite in Canadian French.[3]
- before 1896 – A lock of hair (Goncourt).[4]
Meanings
Noun
Related words
- queue
- English quilt
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1493a
- ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette