escalier

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɛs.ka.lje/^[1]

Forms

escalier m (plural escaliers)^[1] Escallier (1531); Old Picard escaliers “tiers of seats” (about 1270).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Occitan escalier, borrowed in writing, at first for the stone staircases typical of the Renaissance.^{[2][3][5][1][6]} The Occitan word, found as Medieval Latin “scalerium” in a charter of Montpellier (1188), comes from Late Latin scālārium (“staircase”), recorded in inscriptions, the noun use of scālāris (“of a staircase”), from scāla (“ladder; staircase”) (see échelle).^[2][3] The TLFi and Rey reject a direct borrowing from Vitruvius' plural “scalaria”, since learned borrowings turn “-aria” into “-aire”, Bloch and Wartburg, by contrast, take the Occitan word to represent Vitruvius' “scalarium”.^[2][3][5] Old French “eschalier”, from the same Latin word, did not mean a staircase; it survives in western dialects for a small ladder or a stile, and is a doublet of “escalier” (see échalier).^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the royal building accounts of 1531 escallier is a flight of steps.^[2] Bloch and Wartburg give 1545, in an architectural treatise describing an amphitheatre.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word spread from south to north, replacing degré in the 17th century and montée (used from the 14th to the 17th century), which survives in north-eastern dialects.^[3][5] Escalier dérobé is from 1593.^[3] L'esprit de l'escalier (end of the 19th century) is thinking of a reply too late, the opposite of ready wit.^[3] Mechanical stairs are escalier roulant or escalier mécanique.^[3][1] By analogy, from the 19th century it named a step-like arrangement, as in skiing, where the montée en escalier is the side-step climb (1903).^[3][7]

Timeline

• 1188 – Scalerium in a Latin charter of Montpellier.^[2]
• c. 1270 – Old Picard escaliers “tiers of seats”.^[3]
• 1531 – Escallier.^[2]
• 1593 – Escalier dérobé.^[3]
• 17th century – Replaces degré.^[3]
• late 19th century – L'esprit de l'escalier.^[3]
• 1903 – En escalier in skiing.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A staircase, stairs: monter l'escalier, escalier en colimaçon, escalier de service.^[8][1]
2. Escalier roulant, escalier mécanique: an escalator.^[1][3]
3. En escalier: in steps, stepped.^[3][7]
4. L'esprit de l'escalier: thinking of the right retort too late.^[3][1]

Related words

• échelle
• échalier
• escalade
• Latin scāla

Usage notes

The plural les escaliers is commonly used for a single staircase: monter les escaliers quatre à quatre.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 271a
7. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse