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fêle

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Etymology and origin of the French word fêle

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1723 Savary des Bruslons, Dictionnaire universel de commerce More words from the 18th century
Inherited from
Latin fistula
Ultimate origin
Latin fistula
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin fistula
French fêle

Pronunciation

Forms

fêle f (plural fêles)[1] Also written felle and fesle, the spellings of the first record.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin fistula (“pipe, tube”), which had several technical senses in Latin.[2][3][5][1][6] Bloch and Wartburg call the word the popular outcome of the Latin noun, surviving only in the language of glassmaking.[5]

It is a doublet of fistule, borrowed from the same Latin word as a medical term in 1314.[1][5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1723, as felle or fesle, in Savary des Bruslons's Dictionnaire universel de commerce, for the glassblower's iron tube.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word has only ever named the glassmaker's blowpipe, and it is now old or historical, the usual word being canne.[3][2] The Académie records the variants fêle and fesle in 1762.[2]

Timeline

  • 1723 – Savary des Bruslons records felle or fesle.[2][3]
  • 1762 – The Académie's dictionary records fêle and fesle.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (glassmaking, dated) An iron tube with which the glassblower takes molten glass from the crucible and blows it, a blowpipe: L'ouvrier tournait la fêle au-dessus du four.[3][4][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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ a b c 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. 3, 583a

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Fêle.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/f%C3%AAle. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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