fétu

Forms

fétu m (plural fétus)^[1] Old French festu.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French festu, inherited from Late Latin festucum, a Late Latin variant of Latin festūca (“stalk, blade of straw”).^[4][5][6][7] The Latin noun also meant, by antiphrasis, a rammer for driving in stakes.^[6]

Cognate with Italian festuca and festuco, Old Occitan festuga and festuc, which continue both Latin forms,^[7][2] and with Walloon fistou.^[2] The learned fétuque “fescue” is a later borrowing of the Latin word.^[6] English fescue comes from the Old French form.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1170 in Chrétien de Troyes's Erec, as a straw used figuratively for a thing of little worth.^[4][6] The GLLF dates it to the early 12th century, in the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne.^[8]

Semantic evolution

French kept the Latin sense “straw” and also used it from the start for something light or worthless.^[6][4] Old French phrases built on it include ne pas donner un fétu (1273, Adenet) and rompre le festu, breaking a straw to mark the end of a bond or a pledge;^[8][3] Littré also records tirer au court fétu, for which tirer à la courte paille was already preferred.^[2] The ironic sense of the iron bar with which the executioner broke condemned men on the wheel is dated 1576 by Esnault.^[8][2]

In the 18th century fétu was a botanical term, later replaced by fétuque (1775).^[6] Today it is mostly found in fétu de paille and in emporté comme un fétu.^[9][8]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it in Erec.^[4][6]
• 1273 – Ne pas donner un fétu in Adenet.^[8]
• 1382 – Wycliffe's English Bible has festu for the mote in the eye.^[3]
• 1576 – The executioner's bar.^[8]
• 1775 – Fétuque replaces it as the botanical term.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A straw, a single stalk of straw: un fétu de paille.^[9][4]
2. (figurative) A thing of no weight or worth: être emporté comme un fétu.^[9][4][6]
3. (dated) Rompre le fétu: to break with someone.^[2][8]

Word family

• fétu-en-cul

Related words

• fétuque
• paille
• Latin festūca
• English fescue

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f 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. 3, 485a
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert