gaze

Forms

gaze f (plural gazes)^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2][3] The TLFi prefers to see it as borrowed from Arabic قَزّ (qazz, “silk floss, raw silk”), a word itself taken from Persian, over a derivation from the name of the city of Gaza in Palestine, where an old textile industry is not proven.^[2][4] Bloch and Wartburg, the DHLF and Wiktionary also mention the Arabic word.^[5][3][1] The Grand Robert, the Petit Robert, the GLLF and Larousse prefer the city name, Latin Gaza, from which the cloth was said to be made and exported,^[6][7][8][9] an explanation that Littré takes from Du Cange.^[10] The FEW files the word under the name of the city.^[11]

How the word and the cloth reached Europe is not known;^[2] the Medieval Latin forms were garza at Bologna in 1250 and at Rome in 1361, and gazzatum at Budapest in 1279.^[2] Spanish gasa, English gauze and German Gaze are borrowed from French.^[2][3][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1461, in a valuation of the furniture of the Hôtel de Faye at Thouars, which lists une robbe de gaze pour homme “a man's robe of gauze”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word named a very light, nearly transparent fabric of silk, linen or cotton, and Ronsard used it in the 16th century.^[2][5][10] In the classical language it took the figurative sense of something that softens or lightly veils a thought (1675, La Fontaine), and by analogy it was used of any transparent veil (1872).^[3][8] Both uses have aged, and since the early 20th century (1907) the word has named above all the open cotton fabric used for surgical dressings.^[3][8]

The English word gauze is recorded from the 1560s, borrowed from French.^[12]

Timeline

• 1461 – Gaze appears in an inventory from Thouars.^[2]
• 1554 – Ronsard uses the word.^[5][8]
• 1560s – English borrows it as gauze.^[12]
• 1675 – La Fontaine uses it figuratively for what softens a thought.^[3][8]
• 1762 – The derived verb gazer “to cover with gauze” is recorded.^[3]
• 1872 – It is used of a transparent veil.^[3]
• 1907 – The sense “surgical gauze” is recorded.^[3][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A light, transparent fabric of silk, linen or cotton, used in fashion and dressmaking: une écharpe de gaze.^[7][9][2]
2. (medicine) A very light, sterile cotton fabric used for dressings and compresses, gauze: une compresse de gaze.^[7][9][13]
3. By analogy, a transparent veil.^[7][3]
4. (figurative, dated) Something that lightly veils or softens a thought.^[7][3]

Related words

• Arabic قَزّ (qazz)
• English gauze

Usage notes

Point de gaze is a needle-lace stitch of Belgian lace, especially that of Brussels.^[9] The word sounds like gaz “gas”.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 19, 53b
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 19, 53a
12. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
13. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)