grumeau

Forms

grumeau m (plural grumeaux)^[1] Old French grumiel and grumel;^[2][3][4][5] gremeau is found in Paré about 1560, and grumeau from 1690 (Furetière).^[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French grumiel, inherited from Vulgar Latin *grumellus, an altered form of Latin grumulus (“small mound, small heap”), a diminutive of grumus (“mound, hillock”).^{[2][4][6][7][1]} The French sense “lump” comes from “small heap”; compare Old Occitan grumel (“ball of thread”).^[6][4] The word is widespread in the northern French dialects for “lump” and “kernel”, partly with other suffixes.^[6]

Cognate with Italian grumo, Spanish grumo, Portuguese grumo and Catalan grum.^[8][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as grumiel about 1265, in Aldebrandin de Sienne's Régime du corps, in a recipe for oat flour cooked a maniere de grumiel, “in the manner of a lump soup”.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

From the start it meant a small mass of clumped matter.^[4] In the 16th century Paré wrote of gremeaux de sang, clots of blood.^[5] The sense of a lump of powder badly dissolved in a liquid is recorded from 1866 and has become the usual one.^[4][3] By extension the word also names a small rough spot on a smooth surface.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1265 – Grumiel appears in Aldebrandin de Sienne's Régime du corps.^[2]
• c. 1560 – Paré writes gremeaux de sang.^[3][5]
• 1690 – Furetière spells it grumeau.^[3]
• 1866 – The sense “lump in a badly mixed liquid” is recorded.^[4][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small lump of powdery matter or of curdled liquid: un grumeau de sucre.^[10][2][5]
2. A lump formed in a sauce or batter when flour is badly mixed in: une pâte à crêpes pleine de grumeaux.^[10][3]
3. A small rough spot on a smooth surface.^[4]

Word family

• grumeler
• grumeleux
• engrumeler

Related words

• Latin grumus

Usage notes

The Petit Robert and the Grand Robert date grumel to 1256, where the TLFi gives about 1265.^[10][3][2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 4:718
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert