gland

Forms

gland m (plural glands)^[1] Old French glant, at first often feminine; the spelling gland is from the 16th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French glant, inherited from Latin glāns (“acorn”), from the accusative glandem.^[2][5][4][1] The Latin word was feminine, and the feminine is still found in Old French and Old Occitan; it survives in many dialects, but the many forms with an initial ⟨a-⟩ (from the article) show that it has receded only recently.^[4][6][7] Rey connects the Latin word with an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *gwele- “acorn”, the source also of a Greek word for the acorn.^[6]

Cognate with Italian ghianda, Romanian ghindă, Old Occitan glan, Spanish lande (no longer used) and Portuguese lande.^[4][7] Littré cites the dialect forms aglan (Geneva) and Norman lian.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as glant in Rashi's Judaeo-French glosses (before 1105), meaning the acorn.^[2][6] About 1165 la glant in Guillaume d'Angleterre means acorns as a mass.^[2]

Semantic evolution

As the Latin word had done, gland was used by likeness of shape for a sling bullet (1213), then for wooden or metal objects shaped like an acorn (1379), especially the tassel of passementerie; for shellfish such as gland de mer (1558); and for fruits resembling it (1611).^[6][3] In classical and literary French acorns were the supposed food of the first men.^[3][8]

The anatomical sense, the glans of the penis, was taken from Latin in 1538, and that of the clitoris is recorded in 1721.^[2][3][6] From it came the slang sense “idiot” (1901 for the TLFi and the DHLF, 1911 for the Petit Robert), a development like that of couillon.^[2][6][9] The verb glander “to idle, waste time” (1941) is probably based on the same senses.^[6]

Timeline

• before 1105 – Glant appears in Rashi's glosses.^[2]
• c. 1165 – La glant is used collectively in Guillaume d'Angleterre.^[2]
• 1213 – It names a sling bullet.^[6]
• 1379 – The inventory of Charles V uses it for an acorn-shaped ornament.^[3][6]
• c. 1500 – The derivative glandée is recorded.^[4][6]
• 1538 – Jean Canappe uses it in anatomy.^[2][10]
• 1558 – Gland de mer is recorded.^[6]
• 1721 – The dictionary of Trévoux records the glans of the clitoris.^[3]
• 1901 – The slang sense “idiot” is recorded.^[2][6]
• 1941 – The derived verb glander “wait in vain” appears.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. An acorn, the fruit of the oak: un écureuil qui ramasse des glands.^[2][9][1]
2. (anatomy) The glans, the rounded end of the penis or of the clitoris.^[2][9][1]
3. An ornament of wood, metal or passementerie shaped like an acorn, a tassel: les glands d'une écharpe.^[2][9][1]
4. (familiar) A fool, an idiot, also used as an adjective.^[9][2][1]

Word family

• glandeur
• glander
• glandée

Related words

• glande
• Latin glāns

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
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 h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF