ensouple

Forms

ensouple f (plural ensouples)^[1] Old French ensoble (Judeo-French ensobles, late 11th century) and essouble (13th century).^[2][3][4] The form ensuble, an etymological refashioning of the 14th century, was still used in the 19th century.^[2][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French ensoble, inherited from Late Latin īnsūbulum (“weaver's beam”), recorded by Isidore of Seville in the 6th–7th century.^[3][2][4][6] The modern form with /u/ and /p/ is a remaking of the mid-16th century under the influence of souple.^[3][2][4]

The Latin word is formed with in- on sūbula (“awl”).^[2][5][7] Wiktionary also proposes īnsuō (“to sew in”) with the suffix -bulum.^[1] Rey relates the Latin noun to Old Church Slavonic шило (šilo) and Old High German siula, from a root also seen in suō (“to sew”).^[2]

Cognate with Italian subbio, Romanian sul and Spanish enjullo.^[8][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found at the end of the 11th century as ensobles in the Judeo-French glosses of Rashi, as the beam of a weaver's loom.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its sense as a term of weaving: the roller of a loom on which the warp is wound, and by extension the second roller on which the cloth is taken up as it is woven.^[2][3] The form ensouple is found in Habert's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses (1549–1557).^[3]

Timeline

• late 11th century – Judeo-French ensobles in Rashi's glosses.^[3][2]
• c. 1170 – Suble or esuble in the Livre des Rois.^[3]
• 13th century – Essouble.^[2][4]
• 1549–1557 – Ensouple, in Habert's translation of Ovid.^[3]
• 1606 – The derivative ensoupleau.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (weaving) The warp beam of a loom, the roller on which the warp is wound: un métier à double ensouple.^[3][9][1]
2. (by extension) The second roller of a loom, on which the woven cloth is wound.^[3]
3. A frame on which embroiderers work.^[10]

Word family

• ensoupleau

Related words

• coudre²
• Latin sūbula

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 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. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 727b
7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette