entrailles

Forms

entrailles f pl (plural only)^[1] The singular entraille is found in Old French and in Wace (about 1130).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French entrailles, inherited from Late Latin intrālia (8th century, Reichenau Glosses), formed by a change of suffix from interānea (“the intestines”), the neuter plural of interāneus (“inner, intestinal”), a derivative of inter (“among, in the middle of”).^[4][5][6][7] The regular outcome of the classical form was Old French entraigne, which disappeared early.^[4][7][3] Littré suggests that ⟨l⟩ replaced ⟨n⟩ under the influence of the common ending -aille.^[3]

Cognate with Old Occitan intralhas and Spanish entrañas.^[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Psautier de Cambridge (first half of the 12th century), both figuratively for the innermost part of a being and in the plural for the abdominal organs.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

In classical French entrailles named the organs of pregnancy (1672) and by metonymy a mother's children (1635), as in le fruit de vos entrailles of the Hail Mary.^[6][2] Déchirer ses entrailles was said of a people torn by civil strife; these uses have gone out of use.^[6][3]

From 1677 the word also meant the deepest part of something, as in Latin, les entrailles de la terre; this has become archaic.^[6][2] Phrases expressing feeling survive in literary use: prendre aux entrailles, avoir des entrailles (1690) and un homme sans entrailles “a hard, cruel man”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – The word appears in the Psautier de Cambridge.^[4][2]
• c. 1130 – The singular is used in the Roman d'Eneas.^[2]
• c. 1155 – Wace uses it for the abdominal organs.^[2]
• 1635 – Corneille uses it for a mother's children.^[2][6]
• 1672 – Sacy uses it for the organs of pregnancy.^[2][6]
• 1677 – Bossuet uses it for the innermost part of something.^[2][6]
• 1690 – Avoir des entrailles is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The entrails, the organs contained in the abdomen of humans and animals; the bowels.^[8][9]
2. (literary) The womb.^[8][1]
3. (figurative, literary) The innermost part of something: les entrailles de la terre.^[8][6]
4. (literary) The seat of the deepest feelings: prendre aux entrailles.^[9][6]

Related words

• entre
• interne
• boyau
• Latin interānea

Usage notes

The word is used only in the plural.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d 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
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 750a
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)