dune

Forms

dune f (plural dunes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle Dutch dūne (modern duin),^{[2][3][4][1][5]} from Old Dutch dūna,^[6][1] from Proto-West Germanic *dūnā (“hill”), whose origin is uncertain.^[1] Rey derives the Germanic word from Gaulish *duno (“height”),^[6][7] seen in the Latin place names of Lyon and Autun,^[6][7] with Old Irish dún and Welsh din as Celtic cognates;^[6] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF only bring it close to this Gaulish word.^[3][4]

Spanish duna and Italian duna come from French.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1195 in Ambroise's Estoire de la guerre sainte, meaning a hill of sand.^[2][6] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has doune “dune” from 1194–99.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its sense, a small hill of sand.^[6] Froissart, in the 15th century, speaks of the French coming along the dunes on the seashore.^[10] In the 20th century it was also used of a drift of snow (1946).^[11][2]

The diminutive dunette (1550) first seems to have named a fortified bank of earth; in 1564 it meant a small dune.^[6] Since 1634 it has been a sailors' word for the raised deck at the stern of a ship, no longer felt to be linked with dune.^[6] English dune (1790) comes from French, Middle Dutch or Middle Low German.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1195 – First record, in Ambroise's Estoire de la guerre sainte.^[2]
• 1550 – The diminutive dunette appears.^[6]
• 1634 – Dunette is used for the poop deck of a ship.^[6]
• 1790 – English borrows dune.^[8]
• 1946 – It is used of a snow dune.^[11][2]
• 1959 – The adjective dunal is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dune, a hill or ridge of fine sand heaped up by the wind on a coast or in a désert: les dunes du Sahara.^[2][12][4]
2. A similar drift of snow.^[2][11]

Word family

• dunette
• dunal

Related words

• Dutch duin
• English dune

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/2, 81b
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
12. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert