Etymologically
Log in

entonnoir

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the French word entonnoir

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1000s late 11th century, Rashi's glosses More words from the 10th century
Ultimate origin
Late Latin tunna

Pronunciation

  • /ɑ̃.tɔ.nwaʁ/[1]

Forms

entonnoir m (plural entonnoirs)[1] Judeo-French entonedoir (late 11th century), then entonnoir from the 13th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French entonner (“to put into a cask”) + -oir, from the stem of the verb.[2][1][5] The verb (about 1215) is in its turn formed from tonne (“cask”) with the prefix en- and the ending -er;[2] this noun goes back to Late Latin tunna, tonna, a word of Celtic origin, though Bloch and Wartburg find the proposed link with Old Irish tonn (“skin”) doubtful.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest form, entonedoir, is found in the French glosses of Rashi at the end of the 11th century, naming the funnel used to pour liquid into a cask.[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The ordinary sense, a cone ending in a tube for pouring a liquid into a narrow-necked vessel, has never changed.[3][7] By likeness of shape the word was applied from the 16th century on to many things shaped like an inverted cone:[3] familiarly the throat (1552, Rabelais), under the direct influence of entonner “to pour down, to swig”;[3][4] things of funnel shape (1611, Cotgrave);[4] hollows that narrow downwards (1690, Furetière);[4] the crater left by an exploding shell (1752);[3] a kind of mushroom (1835) and part of a lime kiln (1842).[3] Littré records the joking il a l'entonnoir large of a heavy drinker's throat.[8]

Timeline

  • late 11th century – Entonedoir appears in Rashi's glosses.[2]
  • c. 1215 – The verb entonner is recorded.[2]
  • 13th century – The form entonnoir appears.[2][3]
  • 1552 – Rabelais uses it for the throat.[3][4]
  • 1611 – Cotgrave applies it to things shaped like a funnel.[4]
  • 1690 – Furetière records the sense “narrowing cavity”.[4]
  • 1752 – The Trévoux dictionary records a further sense.[4]
  • 1835 – It names a kind of mushroom.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A funnel, a cone-shaped utensil ending in a tube, used to pour liquid into a vessel with a narrow opening.[7][2][1]
  2. En entonnoir: shaped like a funnel, widening upwards.[7][8]
  3. A natural hollow or cavity that narrows downwards.[7][4]
  4. A crater made by the explosion of a shell or bomb.[7][3]
  5. (familiar, dated) The throat.[8][3]

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 h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
Cite this entry

“Entonnoir.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/entonnoir. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·