Etymologically
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garage

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡa.ʁaʒ/[1]

Forms

garage m (plural garages)[1]

Etymology

It is from French garer + -age.[2][3][4] Garer was first a seafaring word, recorded inland only from the 15th century (1415, guerrer (“to moor a ship”)), apart from an isolated varer (“to defend oneself”) of about 1180 in Brittany.[2][5][4] The TLFi, Rey and Bloch and Wartburg derive it from Old Norse *varask (“to be on one's guard”), related to Germanic *warōn (“to take care, protect”), as is German wahren.[2][5][4] Rey mentions Guiraud's alternative, Old Occitan varar (“to launch; to beach a ship”), from Latin vara (“crossbar”), since ships were drawn up on wooden rollers.[5] Etymonline instead takes it from Old French garir (“to protect”), of Frankish origin.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in the Mémorial forestier of 1802, is the action of bringing boats into a gare d'eau, a basin where they could shelter.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Littré records in 1865 the moving of wagons off the main line, the sense behind voie de garage “siding”, which figuratively became a job with no prospects or a project put aside.[2][7][8] In 1891 Le Vélocipède illustré offered cyclists un garage fermé, a shelter for vehicles, and in 1896 La France automobile used the word for a business that keeps and services cars; the derivative garagiste dates from the early 20th century.[9][2][4] Maupassant had used it for a boathouse before 1890.[7]

English took garage in 1902 for a shelter for motor cars.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1180 – Varer a “to defend oneself” appears in Brittany.[2]
  • 1415 – Guerrer “to moor a ship” is recorded.[2][5]
  • 1802 – Garage is used for bringing boats into a basin.[2]
  • 1865 – Littré records the shunting of wagons.[2]
  • 1891 – A shelter for bicycles is called a garage.[9]
  • 1896 – Used for a motor business.[9][2]
  • 1902 – English borrows the word.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A covered building for keeping vehicles, especially cars: rentrer sa voiture au garage.[8][10]
  2. A business that services and repairs cars.[8][10]
  3. (rare) The parking of a vehicle;[8] (railways) the moving of wagons onto a siding.[8]
  4. Voie de garage: a siding;[8] (figurative, familiar) a dead-end job or a shelved project.[8][10]

Word family

  • garagiste

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)