fût

Forms

fût m (plural fûts)^[1] Old French fust; the spelling fût appears only in the 17th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French fust, inherited from Latin fustis (“cut wood, stick, stake, cudgel”), which in Late Latin also meant “stem, trunk”.^{[4][5][2][6][1]}

Cognate with Italian fusto (“stem, trunk”), Old Occitan fust (“stick, cask, boat”), Spanish fuste and Portuguese fuste.^[2][6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found about 1100 in the Chanson de Roland for wood and wooden things: the shaft of a lance, the wooden board of a shield, a cudgel.^[4][2] The poem has Al cors li met et le fer et le fust “he thrusts both iron and shaft into his body” and Bien le batirent à fuz et à bastons “they beat him well with cudgels and staves”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From wood in general it came to mean the trunk of a tree (1176, Chrétien de Troyes), whence arbre de haut fût.^[4][2] By likeness of shape it named the shaft of a column between base and capital (1680) and, in hunting, the main beam of a stag's antler (1757).^[4][2][3]

As “wooden object” it named the wooden stock of a missile weapon and then of a firearm (1690, le fût d'un fusil), and the body of a tool or instrument (1680).^[2][3] It has meant a cask since 1260, the Livre des métiers of Étienne Boileau; today it is also a steel drum for petroleum products.^[4][2] Bloch and Wartburg tie the cask sense to the derivative futaille.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – The Chanson de Roland uses fust for wood, lance shafts and cudgels.^[4]
• 1176 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it for a tree trunk.^[4][2]
• 1260 – Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers uses it for a cask.^[4][2]
• 1680 – Richelet records the shaft of a column.^[4][3]
• 1690 – Furetière records the stock of a gun.^[3][2]
• 1757 – The Encyclopédie records the main beam of a stag's antler.^[3][2]
• 17th century – The spelling fût appears.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The straight, branchless part of a tree trunk, the bole; by extension, the trunk: bois de haut fût.^[8][9][1]
2. The shaft of a column, between the base and the capital.^[8][9]
3. The wooden stock of a weapon; the wooden body of a tool or instrument, as the stick of a violin bow.^[8][9]
4. A cask or barrel for wine or spirits: un rhum élevé en fût de chêne; also a metal drum.^[8][9][1]
5. (hunting) The main beam of a stag's antler, bearing the tines.^[3][2]

Word family

• futaie
• futaille
• affûter
• affûtiau

Related words

• affût
• Latin fustis

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 915a
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)