frange

Forms

frange f (plural franges)^[1] Old French frenge and frange (about 1190);^[2] Anglo-Norman also had freigne and freine.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French frenge, inherited from Vulgar Latin *frimbia, an early metathesis of Latin fimbria (“edge, border of a garment, fringe”).^[4][5][1][6] The Latin word was mostly used in the plural, fimbriae, also of locks of hair.^[7][4] Littré explains the French /ʒ/ from ⟨bi⟩ as in plonger and compares Varro's linking of the Latin word with fibra (“fibre”).^[8] Rey adds that P. Guiraud derived the word instead from a Vulgar Latin *frangiō, from frangō (“to break”).^[7]

Cognate with Romanian frânghie (“rope”), and with similar words for fringes in the dialects of northern Italy.^[5][7] Italian frangia, German Franse and the English word fringe were taken from French.^[5][8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1190 in the Sermons de saint Bernard, of a strip of hanging threads on a garment, the first sense of the Latin word.^[4][2][7]

Semantic evolution

From the hem of a garment the word passed to any ornamental fringe on clothes and furnishings.^[2][7] By likeness it named other things that look like a fringe (1830); from the early 20th century it was used for a fringe of hair cut straight across the forehead.^[7][2] In optics (1872) it is a band of light brighter or darker in the middle than at the edges, and frange d'interférence is recorded from 1877.^[7][9]

In the early 20th century it came to mean a vague boundary between two states; from about 1966 it also named a more or less marginal minority of a group or movement.^[7][9] In Belgium the fringe of hair is called capoule or chiennes, and in Martinique chien.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1190 – Frenge and frange appear in the Sermons de saint Bernard.^[2][4]
• 1213 – The verb franger is recorded.^[5]
• 1830 – Lamartine uses it of things that resemble a fringe.^[2][7]
• 1872 – First used in optics.^[7][9]
• 1877 – Frange d'interférence is recorded.^[7]
• Early 20th century – Frange is used for a fringe of hair.^[7][2]
• c. 1966 – It is used for a marginal minority of a group.^[7][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fringe: an ornamental border of hanging threads or cords on clothing, curtains or furniture.^[9][4]
2. A fringe of hair, cut more or less short across the forehead (frange de cheveux).^[9][10]
3. (optics) A light band brighter or darker in the middle than at its edges: franges d'interférence, interference fringes.^[9]
4. (anatomy) Franges synoviales: folds of the inner membrane of a joint.^[9][8]
5. (figurative) A vague boundary between two states or notions; a margin.^[9]
6. A more or less marginal minority of a group or movement.^[9][7]

Word family

• franger
• effranger

Related words

• Latin fimbria
• English fringe

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b c d 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, 543a
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)