Etymologically
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glace

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡlas/[1]

Forms

glace f (plural glaces)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French glace, inherited from Late Latin glacia, a late form of classical Latin glaciēs (“ice; hardness, rigidity”).[2][3][4][5] Rey calls the formation of the Latin word unclear; some connect it with an Indo-European root “*gel-” “cold”, as in geler.[6] Wiktionary suggests that the senses “glass, mirror” may owe something to Frankish *glas (“glass”).[1]

The word is used in all the Gallo-Romance dialects except in the Centre and the West, which have “glas”, masculine or feminine; that form was used in French from the 14th to the 16th century and seems to be a remaking of “glace”.[4] Cognate with Italian ghiaccia (older Italian) and Old Occitan glassa; the languages of the Iberian Peninsula use descendants of Latin gelū instead.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Roman d'Eneas (about 1160) it is frozen water.[2]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense of coldness, as in Latin, appears in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie (about 1165), and ice became a symbol of insensibility in phrases such as être de glace (early 17th century) and rompre la glace, first “to make the first move in an undertaking” (16th century), then “to dispel awkwardness” (1678); Quebec French says casser la glace.[2][6]

From the polish and transparency of ice, the word named a sheet of glass in the 12th century and a mirror in Chrétien de Troyes's Cligès (1176); later it was a carriage window (1680) and a window pane (1802).[2][6] In cooking it meant a sorbet in 1669, then the ice cream, which Canadian French calls crème glacée, and a sugar icing on cakes (1680; recorded in 1660 by Rey).[2][6][8] In 1835 it was also the freezing point.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1160 – Frozen water, Roman d'Eneas.[2]
  • c. 1165 – Figurative coldness, Benoît de Sainte-Maure.[2]
  • 1176 – A mirror, Chrétien de Troyes's Cligès.[2]
  • 16th century – Rompre la glace.[6]
  • 1669 – A sorbet, Widerhold's dictionary.[2][8]
  • 1680 – Sugar icing; a carriage window, Richelet.[2][6]
  • 1835 – The freezing point.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. ice: frozen water: patins à glace, froid comme la glace; in the plural, ice floes: navire pris dans les glaces.[9][1]
  2. (figurative) Coldness, reserve: être de glace, rompre la glace.[9][6]
  3. An ice cream or sorbet.[9][1]
  4. Plate glass; a window of a car or train.[9][6]
  5. A mirror, looking glass.[9][1]
  6. (cooking) Icing or glaze on a cake; a reduced meat juice.[6][8]

Word family

  • glacer
  • glaçon
  • glacière
  • glaciaire
  • glacial
  • glacier
  • verglas
  • Latin glacies

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 139a
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert