grange

Forms

grange f (plural granges)^[1] Old French also grainge and granche.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *grānica (“barn”), a derivative of Latin grānum (“grain”).^[4][2][5][6] The word is found only in Gallo-Romance;^[4][6] Littré cites Medieval Latin granica “place for grain” from the Law of the Bavarians.^[7]

Cognate with Occitan granja, Spanish granja and Portuguese granja.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Chronique des ducs de Normandie (about 1175), meaning a building for storing the harvest.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The word has always named a closed farm building for the crops.^[2] Regionally it spread to buildings also used as dwellings; in the south of France it meant a tenant farm (13th century), and in the mountains the floor where the flocks are kept (1636).^[2] In the Middle Ages grange also named a farming estate belonging to an abbey (about 1220).^[2][8]

The derivative engranger “to store in a barn” (about 1260) has been used figuratively since 1939 for gathering information or knowledge.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses grange.^[4]
• c. 1220 – Grainge names a monastic farm.^[2]
• c. 1260 – The derivative engranger is recorded.^[2]
• 13th century – In the south it means a tenant farm.^[2]
• 1564 – Grangée “a barnful” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A barn, a closed farm building where the harvest, hay or straw is stored: dormir dans une grange.^[9][8]
2. (history) In the Middle Ages, a farming estate belonging to an abbey or priory.^[8][2]

Word family

• engranger
• grangée

Related words

• grain
• Latin grānum

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 225a
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert