gravier

Forms

gravier m (plural graviers)^[1] Anglo-Norman graver (from 1155).^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Old French grave + -ier, the base being the older form of grève “sandy shore”.^[3][1][4][5] That word comes from Vulgar Latin *grava (“gravel”), found in Medieval Latin in 876 meaning “beach”, and probably pre-Latin.^[3][6][7][4] The TLFi and Bloch and Wartburg hold that the word's spread far outside Gaul, as far as southern Italy, makes a Gaulish origin unlikely,^[3][5] while Meyer-Lübke called it Gaulish and compared Welsh gro (“pebble”).^[8]

Cognate with Occitan gravier and Walloon gravî.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1135 in the Couronnement de Louis, meaning “shore, beach”; in 1155 Wace's Brut uses it for coarse sand.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense “shore” died out, and the word kept the sense of coarse sand and small stones.^[3][10] The Old French Livre des Rois compares a countless army to li graviers ki est al rivage de mer “the sand on the seashore”.^[9] Before 1662 Pascal used it for a small concretion in the kidneys or bladder, a sense now dated.^[11][10] A single small pebble is recorded from 1838, in Musset.^[11] In salt works it names the place where the harvested salt is heaped.^[11][12]

The derivative gravière, first gravere “stretch of gravel” in Anglo-Norman texts, has meant a gravel pit since 1876.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1135 – Gravier “shore” appears in the Couronnement de Louis.^[3]
• 1155 – Wace uses it for coarse sand in the Brut.^[3][2]
• before 1662 – Pascal uses it for a stone in the kidneys.^[11]
• 1838 – Musset uses it for a single small pebble.^[11]
• 1876 – Gravière “gravel pit” is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Gravel: small stones used to surface paths and drives.^[10][12][1]
2. Un gravier: a single small pebble: un gravier dans sa sandale.^[10][11]
3. (geology) Coarse detrital rock of sand and small pebbles, from rivers or the coast.^[10][12]
4. (medicine, dated) A small stone in the kidneys or bladder.^[10][1]
5. In salt works, the place where the harvested salt is heaped.^[12][11]

Word family

• gravière

Related words

• grève
• Vulgar Latin *grava

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 254b
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
12. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)