dais

Forms

dais m (invariable)^[1] Old French deis and dois, later ders (1525); the form dais prevailed in the 16th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French deis, inherited from Latin discus (“quoit, disc, platter”), which is from Ancient Greek δίσκος (dískos, “quoit, disc”).^[3][2][4][5] From the sense “platter on which food was set out” the word came to mean “table” in Old French.^[3][2][4] The same change is seen in Italian desco (“table, workbench”) and Old Occitan desc (“table”), and, by borrowing from Latin, in German Tisch (“table”), beside English dish.^[4][2][6] Littré quotes Matthew Paris for Medieval Latin dais “table” in Medieval Latin: “ad magnam mensam quam dais vocamus”, “at the great table which we call dais”.^[7]

It is a doublet of disque, which was borrowed from Latin.^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as deis in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie (1165–1170), meaning a table of honour set on a platform.^[3][2] Littré quotes Benoît's chronicle of the dukes of Normandy, where people eat with n'i orent tables n'autres deis / fors la vert herbe, “they had no tables nor other boards but the green grass”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The sense “table of honour on a platform” lasted from the 12th to the 16th century; the 16th century also has haut dais.^[2][3] Through the idea of a table with a hanging over it, the word came to mean a ceiling or roof (before 1350, dois, in Watriquet de Couvin), and then, as a mark of honour, a canopy (1525, ders, in the accounts of Queen Louise of Savoy).^[3][2] Bloch and Wartburg date these senses to about the 16th century.^[4]

The canopy sense gave the cloth carried on poles over the Blessed Sacrament in processions, the small vault over a statue, and figurative uses such as un dais de feuillage.^[9][10][7] English borrowed the word from Anglo-Norman deis about 1300, as “raised platform at one end of a hall”; it died out about 1600, survived in Scotland and was revived in the 19th century.^[11][12]

Timeline

• 1165–1170 – Deis “table of honour” in the Roman de Troie.^[3]
• c. 1300 – English borrows the word from Anglo-Norman.^[11]
• Before 1350 – Dois “ceiling, roof” in Watriquet de Couvin.^[3][2]
• 1525 – Ders “canopy” in the accounts of Louise of Savoy.^[3][2]
• 16th century – The form dais prevails, and haut dais is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1798 – The Académie defines haut-dais as the raised place for the king or queen at ceremonies.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A canopy of wood or fabric fixed or held above an altar, a throne, a pulpit or a bed: un trône sous un dais de velours.^[10][3]
2. (religion) A cloth canopy on light poles, under which the Blessed Sacrament is carried in processions.^[10][9]
3. (architecture) A small projecting vault over a statue, especially on a church portal.^[10][9]
4. (figurative) A covering like a canopy: un dais de feuillage.^[10][7]
5. (history) A raised table of honour or platform in the hall of a palace;^[3][9] haut-dais.^[3][9]

Related words

• disque
• Latin discus
• English dais

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 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. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 93a
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)