faîne

Forms

faîne f (plural faînes)^[1] Old French favine and faïne (12th–13th century); faine from 1600.^[2][3][4] Both faîne and faine are correct; the Académie spelled it faine from 1694 to 1740 and again in 1932, faîne from 1762 to 1878.^[5][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French faïne, inherited from Vulgar Latin *fāgīna (“beechnut”), with glāns (“acorn”) understood (the full phrase is found in Marcellus Empiricus), the feminine of the adjective Latin fāginus (“of beech”), from fāgus (“beech”).^[5][7][8][2] Littré explains the modern form by the same Latin noun, as gaîne comes from vāgīna, and the three-syllable Old French forms from fāginea;^[9][1] Wiktionary derives the word from the latter.^[9][1] The Latin word for beech itself gave Old French fou (“beech”), the base of fouet.^[2][8]

Bloch and Wartburg note that the word is found only in French.^[8] Littré lists the dialect forms Walloon faiène and Picard faigne.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as faïne about 1165 in Guillaume d'Angleterre, naming the beechnut.^[5] The Partonopeus (12th century) has favine among the nuts and acorns that fatten wild boars after Holy Cross Day.^[3][9]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept a single meaning, the fruit of the beech, which stands to the beech as the acorn to the oak and serves as food for animals.^[2] Olivier de Serres wrote faine in 1600 and named it among the wild fruits such as acorns and chestnuts; its oil (huile de faîne) is mentioned by Littré and by Balzac.^[9][5]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – Faïne appears in Guillaume d'Angleterre.^[5]
• 12th century – Partonopeus de Blois has the form favine.^[3]
• 1258 – Faïne is found in the Roman de Mahomet.^[3][2]
• 1600 – Olivier de Serres writes faine.^[3][2]
• 1694 – The Académie records faine.^[5]
• 1762 – The Académie adopts the spelling faîne.^[5][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A beechnut, the edible, oily fruit of the hêtre: ramasser des faînes en forêt.^[6][10][11]

Related words

• fouet
• Latin fāgus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 367b
8. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale