facette

Forms

facette f (plural facettes)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French face + -ette, a diminutive of the noun.^[2][3][1][4] Face is from Late Latin facia, from Classical Latin faciēs.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as facete “little face” in a 13th-century manuscript of Athis et Prophilias (the GLLF and Bloch–Wartburg date it to the 12th century).^[2][6][5] Littré quotes a 13th-century line comparing it to a rose beneath a lily: Comme rose par desous lis / Est sa facete.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The sense “little face” went out of use after the 14th century.^[6] In 1589 (fasette; the DHLF gives 1582) the word named one of the small faces of a body that has many, a sense the Grand Robert dates in its modern form to 1653.^[2][3][7] It was specialized in jewellery for the faces of a cut gem (1671) and in natural history for the compound eyes of insects (yeux à facettes, 1845).^[7][6]

Figurative use began with Mme de Sévigné (1680), and à facettes came to mean “with many aspects”.^[7][6][8] English borrowed it as facet in the 1620s.^[9]

Timeline

• 13th century – Facete “little face” in a manuscript of Athis et Prophilias.^[2]
• 14th century – The sense “little face” drops out of use.^[6]
• 1454 – The verb facetter is recorded as a diamond-cutting term.^[7]
• 1589 – Fasette names one of the small faces of a many-sided body.^[2]
• 1620s – English takes up facet.^[9]
• 1671 – Pomey uses it of the faces of a cut diamond.^[6][7]
• 1680 – Mme de Sévigné uses it figuratively.^[6][7]
• 1845 – Bescherelle records œil à facettes.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. One of the small flat faces of a body that has many; a facet, especially of a cut gem: tailler un rubis à facettes.^[8][6][4]
2. (figurative) À facettes: having many aspects, hard to read: un écrivain à facettes.^[8][4][6]
3. (zoology) Œil à facettes: the compound eye of insects.^[8][4]
4. (anatomy) A small flat surface of a bone or tooth, as in facette articulaire.^[8][4]

Word family

• facetter

Related words

• face
• surface
• Latin faciēs
• English facet

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com