guichet

Forms

guichet m (plural guichets)^[1] Old French also guischet;^[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman wiket, wyket;^[2][3][4] Norman viquet, Walloon wichet.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is probably a diminutive from Old Norse vík (“bay”), whence “hiding place, nook”, a sense also found in Old and Middle French.^[5][2][6][7] The ⟨s⟩ of the Old French variant guischet may be due to the influence of uisset (“small door”), a diminutive of huis “door”.^[2][8][9] The REW instead lists it under Middle Dutch wijk.^[10]

Pierre Guiraud rejected the Norse origin because of Old Occitan guisquet (variant visquet): he connected it with guiscos (“cunning”) and traced the family to Latin vīsō (“to look at”) through a Gallo-Romance *visicare, a doublet of vīsitō.^[8][6] The REW judges the single record of the Occitan variant of no weight against the Old French word and Walloon wiket.^[10]

English wicket comes from the same source through Old Northern French or Anglo-Norman.^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in the Couronnement de Louis (about 1135) for a small door made in a monumental gate, a wall or a fortification.^[5][8]

Semantic evolution

The small door of a fortress or prison gave the old phrase passer le guichet “to go to prison” (Brantôme, 1590–1604).^[5][8] By analogy the word was used for a narrow passage (1690, les guichets du Louvre).^[8][9]

In 1767 Voltaire uses it for a small opening at head height in a door or wall, through which one can speak or pass objects;^[5][9] Richelet had it for the grille of a confessional in 1680.^[9] The specialized sense “opening through which the public deals with the staff of an office” is recorded in 1862 (Goncourt), and the word is still used where the business is done across a plain counter.^[5][8][11] Guichet automatique de banque is a cash machine.^[12][1]

Timeline

• c. 1135 – First recorded in the Couronnement de Louis, for a small door.^[5]
• 1590–1604 – Brantôme uses passer le guischet “to go to prison”.^[5]
• 1611 – The derivative guichetier is recorded.^[2][8]
• 1680 – Richelet uses it for the grille of a confessional.^[9]
• 1690 – Furetière records les guichets du Louvre.^[9]
• 1767 – Voltaire uses it for a small opening in a door or wall.^[5]
• 1862 – The Goncourts use it for an office counter window.^[5][11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small opening in a door or wall through which one can speak to someone or pass objects; a hatch or grille, as in a prison door or a confessional.^[12][5][1]
2. A counter or window through which the public deals with the staff of an office, station, post office or bank; a ticket office: attendre son tour au guichet de la gare.^[12][5][1]
3. Guichet automatique de banque: a cash machine.^[12][1]
4. (archaic) A small door made in a large gate or wall, especially of a town, fortress or prison; a wicket.^[5][4][1]
5. Les guichets du Louvre: the narrow vaulted passages linking the courtyards of the Louvre with the streets around it.^[12][4]

Word family

• guichetier

Related words

• huis
• Old Norse vík
• English wicket

Usage notes

Jouer à guichets fermés is to play to a full house, every seat having been sold.^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ a b c d Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 428b
8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
12. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert