estomac

Forms

estomac m (plural estomacs)^[1] Judeo-French estomaqe (late 11th century), Old French stomac (about 1220) and estomach (1256); the form estomac dates from the 14th century.^[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman also had estomak, estumac and estoumac.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French estomac, borrowed from Latin stomachus (“gullet, stomach, taste, irritation”),^[1][6] from Ancient Greek στόμαχος (stómakhos, “throat, gullet”),^[6][4][7] a derivative of στόμα (stóma, “mouth”).^[4][3][7] In Greek the word named various openings and, among the late medical writers, the stomach;^[4] Littré notes that the shift from “pharynx” to “stomach” was completed in Latin.^[7]

Cognate with Italian stomaco, Old Occitan estomach, Catalan estómac, Spanish estómago and Portuguese estômago, and with Walloon stoumak.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears at the end of the 11th century in the Judeo-French glosses of Rashi, as estomaqe, apparently for an opening or orifice of the paunch, as in Greek.^[6][4][2] As the name of the digestive organ it is found about 1220 as stomac and in 1256 as estomach in Aldebrandin of Siena's Régime du corps: l'estomach foible “a weak stomach”.^[2][9][7]

Semantic evolution

From the organ the word passed in the 15th century to the outer part of the body over it, and then to the chest (after 1440) and, figuratively, to the heart as the seat of feeling (1461–1464, Chastellain).^[4][6] Sixteenth-century writers, Rabelais excepted, used it widely for “chest, heart”,^[4] and in the 17th century, when poitrine was felt to be vulgar, estomac took its place;^[4][10] in many dialects it still means “chest”, as in northern Italy.^[10][8]

As the anatomical knowledge of the stomach, gullet and duodenum grew more precise, the word took its present medical value, also of animals.^[4] In everyday language it stands for appetite, as in avoir un estomac d'autruche (1751) “to digest anything”, avoir l'estomac dans les talons “to be very hungry” and avoir un creux à l'estomac.^[4][7] From “chest” and “heart” came the sense “courage” (1460) and in modern French “nerve, cheek” (1868), kept in avoir de l'estomac and à l'estomac.^[4][2]

Timeline

• Late 11th century – Estomaqe appears in Rashi's glosses.^[6][2]
• c. 1220 – Stomac is recorded for the digestive organ.^[2][9]
• 1256 – Aldebrandin of Siena writes estomach.^[2]
• 14th century – The modern spelling estomac appears.^[3][4]
• 1460 – It is used figuratively for courage.^[4][2]
• 1461–1464 – Chastellain uses it for the heart as the seat of feeling.^[6]
• 1480 – The derivative estomaquer is recorded.^[10]
• 1751 – Avoir un estomac d'autruche is recorded.^[4]
• 1868 – It is recorded in the sense “nerve, cheek”.^[4][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The stomach, the pouch-shaped part of the digestive tract between the oesophagus and the duodénum.^[6][9][2]
2. The part of the body over the stomach;^[4][2] (dated) the chest.^[4][2]
3. Appetite: avoir l'estomac dans les talons, to be famished.^[4][7]
4. (familiar) Nerve, cheek: avoir de l'estomac.^[4]

Word family

• estomaquer

Related words

• stomacal
• Latin stomachus
• English stomach

Usage notes

Littré notes that the final ⟨c⟩ is not pronounced, though Chifflet's grammar wanted it sounded before a vowel.^[7] Julien Gracq titled an essay against literary prizes La Littérature à l'estomac.^[4]

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 l Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France