fossé

Forms

fossé m (plural fossés)^[1] Old French fosset, remade as fossé in the 12th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French fosset, inherited from Late Latin fossātum (“ditch”), the noun use of the past participle of fossō (“to dig”), a frequentative of fodiō (“to dig”).^[4][2][3] The Robert dictionaries connect it with fossa (“ditch, pit”), the source of fosse.^[5][6] The same Latin verb gave fouir.^[3]

Cognate with Old Occitan fossat and Italian fossato.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1100 in the Chanson de Roland, as fosset: E Mahumet enz en un fosset butent “and they throw Mahomet into a ditch”, of the Saracens' idol.^[4][8]

Semantic evolution

The word names a long trench dug in the ground to carry off water or to mark off land, and in 1629 one dug for defence round a fortification.^[2][3] In Anglo-Norman it covered a wide range: a ditch or moat, a dike, an embankment or hedge, a pit or grave, and even Hadrian's Wall.^[9]

Keeping the idea of an obstacle, it came to mean a divergence of views, a gulf between people (1916, Louis Hémon), as in le fossé des générations.^[4][2][6] Figurative phrases include sauter le fossé “to make up one's mind at last” (1690)^[2][8] and the proverb au bout du fossé, la culbute, recorded by d'Hautel in 1808.^[10][3]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Fosset appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[4]
• 12th century – The form fossé replaces fosset.^[2][3]
• 1629 – Mairet uses it for a defensive ditch.^[3][2]
• 1690 – Sauter le fossé “to take the plunge” is recorded.^[2]
• 1808 – D'Hautel records au bout du fossé, la culbute.^[10]
• 1916 – Louis Hémon uses it for a divergence of views, in Maria Chapdelaine.^[4][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ditch, a long trench dug in the ground for drainage or to separate plots of land: Le camion a fini dans le fossé.^[6][4]
2. (fortification) A moat, a trench surrounding a fortified work;^[6][3] fossé antichar, an anti-tank ditch.^[6][3]
3. (geology) A strip of sunken ground bounded by faults, a rift valley: fossé tectonique.^[6]
4. (figurative) A gulf, a divide between people or groups: le fossé des générations.^[6][2]

Related words

• fosse
• fouir
• enfouir
• fossile

Usage notes

Littré notes the pronunciations /foˈse/ and /fɔˈse/, and that in the 16th century Henri Estienne remarked that the o of fosse was long and that of fossé short.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF