esche

Forms

esche f (plural esches)^[1] Also spelled èche and aiche.^[2][3][4] The variant laiche arose from the fusion of the article.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French esche, inherited from Latin ēsca (“food, bait”), which in Late Latin also meant fuel for a fire.^[6][5][1][7] Rey derives the Latin noun from edō (“to eat”), which belongs to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *ed- (“to chew”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Chrétien de Troyes's Erec (about 1170) uses esche for tinder, the material used to light or feed a fire.^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

From the early 13th century the word took up again the classical Latin sense of “bait” for fishing, the only one it has kept.^[6][5] Anglo-Norman knew both senses, tinder and the bait fixed to a hook.^[8]

Its derivative escher “to bait” (1317, after aeschier about 1175) is a technical term, also written écher or aicher.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – Esche “tinder” appears in Chrétien de Troyes's Erec.^[6]
• c. 1175 – The verb aeschier is recorded.^[5]
• Early 13th century – First found as “bait” in a translation of Martin of Braga.^[6]
• 1317 – The verb escher is recorded.^[5]
• 17th century – The spellings èche and aiche appear.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (fishing) bait fixed to a hook.^[2][3][4][1]

Word family

• escher

Related words

• comestible
• Latin ēsca

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e 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
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)