craie

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kʁɛ/^[1]

Forms

craie f (plural craies)^[1] Old French creide (11th century), croie (about 1175), crée (early 14th century); craye in the Académie of 1694.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French croie, inherited from Latin crēta (“chalk; white clay”),^{[2][3][5][4][1][6]} a word of unknown origin, also the source of German Kreide.^[3] In Gallo-Romance it kept only the sense “chalk”,^[5] while Italian creta and Spanish greda also mean “clay”.^[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rashi's glosses (late 11th century) have creide for chalk,^[2] and Chrétien de Troyes writes croie (about 1175).^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

Besides the soft white limestone, the word names the stick of chalk used for drawing (craie rouge, 1538) and for writing on a slate or blackboard.^[3][8] In Old French it was also a symbol of purity.^[3] In late 19th-century slang a bill run up at a restaurant was a craie, like ardoise, from the chalk marks on the slate.^[3]

Derivatives include crayeux (13th century), crayère “chalk pit”, used as a champagne cellar (early 14th century), and crayon.^[5][2]

Timeline

• late 11th century – Creide (Rashi).^[2][4]
• c. 1175 – Croie.^[2]
• early 14th century – Crée, and craiere “chalk pit”.^[4][2]
• 1538 – Craie rouge.^[3]
• 1866 – A stick of chalk for writing.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Chalk, the soft white limestone.^[9][1]
2. A stick of chalk for writing or drawing.^[9][8]

Word family

• crayeux
• crayon
• crayonneur
• porte-crayon

Related words

• crétacé
• Latin crēta

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d 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, 1330a
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert