grenier

Forms

grenier m (plural greniers)^[1] Old French guernier, gernier;^[2][3][1] grenier is a remodelled form of the early 13th century.^[2][3][1] Picard, Berry and Lorraine dialects keep guernier.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French guernier, inherited from Latin grānārium (“granary”), which was used mostly in the plural.^[2][3] The Latin noun is derived from grānum (“grain”).^[2][3][5][6]

Cognate with Old Occitan granier, Catalan graner, Spanish granero, Portuguese granel and Italian granaio.^[4][7] The English word garner (late 12th century) comes from Old French gernier.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, guernier in Wace's Roman de Rou (1160–1174), means a place where grain is stored.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word kept the Latin sense, still found in rural use for a building where crops are stored.^[3][2] By extension it came to mean a storehouse, as for salt (1342), and by 1570 the space under the roof of a house; in general French it is now the unlived-in top floor of a house, contrasted with the cellar.^[3][2] Figuratively it has named a region rich in grain since 1690.^[3][9]

In the navy it named a loose flooring that protects cargo (1736), and charger en grenier meant to load in bulk (1680), a phrase no longer used.^[3][9] Later it also named a place of entertainment (1863) and a meeting place on a high floor, such as the Goncourts' grenier (1887).^[3]

Timeline

• 1160–1174 – Guernier appears in Wace's Roman de Rou.^[2]
• Late 12th century – English borrows the word as gerner.^[8]
• Early 13th century – The form grenier appears in the Reclus de Molliens.^[2]
• 1342 – It names a salt storehouse.^[3][9]
• 1570 – The sense “attic” is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1680 – Richelet records charger en grenier “to load in bulk”.^[9]
• 1690 – Furetière uses it for a grain-producing country.^[9][3]
• 1736 – The naval sense is recorded.^[3][9]
• 1887 – The grenier of the Goncourts names a literary gathering.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A granary, part of a farm building where grain and fodder are kept: un grenier à foin.^[10][9]
2. (historical) Grenier à sel: a salt storehouse at the time of the gabelle.^[10][9]
3. (figurative) A region that produces much grain: la Beauce, grenier de la France.^[10][3]
4. An attic, the top floor of a house under the roof: Nous avons rangé les jouets au grenier.^[10][1]

Related words

• grain
• Latin grānārium
• English garner

Usage notes

De la cave au grenier means “from top to bottom”, all through a house.^[10][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ 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, 217a
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert