guimpe

Forms

guimpe f (plural guimpes)^[1] Old French guimple (about 1140), also gimple in the Roman de la Rose; the form guimpe is recorded from 1564.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle French guimpe (1564), earlier inherited from Old French guimple (about 1140), borrowed from Frankish *wimpil (“head scarf”).^{[2][5][3][6][7]} The Frankish word is reconstructed from Old High German wimpal, Middle Dutch wumpel (“cap”) and German Wimpel (“pennant”).^[2][3] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Germanic *wimpilaz and compares Old English wimpel (“wimple”) and Old Norse vimpill (“hood, veil”).^[1]

The noun was at first also masculine, as in Ronsard (1572); the TLFi explains the feminine that prevailed by the ending ⟨-le⟩, but notes that winfila (“head scarf”), glossed in the 9th century, suggests a Frankish feminine may also have existed.^[2] Wiktionary adds an influence from Old French guimpre (“a kind of trimming”), of the same Germanic source.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

As guimple it is first found about 1140 in Gaimar's history of the English, for a piece of fine linen or silk that framed a woman's face and fell over her neck and breast.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From about 1225–1230 the Roman de la Rose uses it for the head covering of a nun, the sense that the modern word chiefly keeps;^[2][3] guimpe de religieuse is recorded in 1660.^[2][3] The Grand Larousse notes that it was once worn by widows as well.^[8]

In 19th-century dressmaking it passed to the high-necked part of a dress: robe à guimpe is found in 1812, and a light sleeveless chemisette worn under a low-cut dress is recorded by the Académie's supplement in 1840.^[2][3][8] In 1894 the Goncourts use it for a ruffle of lace filling a low neckline, and in the 20th century it also names a front panel worn under a low-cut dress or jacket.^[2][9]

The derived verb guimper meant “to put on a wimple” (as soi guimpler, about 1170) and, after the nun's wimple, “to put into a convent” (1691); it is now a technical term for covering a thread with twisted threads.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – Guimple appears in Gaimar's history of the English.^[2]
• c. 1170 – The verb soi guimpler “to put on a wimple” is recorded.^[3]
• 1225–1230 – The Roman de la Rose uses guimple of a nun's head covering.^[2][3]
• 1564 – Thierry's dictionary has the form guimpe.^[2][7]
• 1660 – Guimpe de religieuse is recorded in Oudin's Spanish–French dictionary.^[2]
• 1812 – Jouy writes of a robe à guimpe.^[2]
• 1840 – The Académie's supplement records the sense “chemisette”.^[8][10]
• 1894 – The Goncourts use it for a lace ruffle inside a low neckline.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wimple: a piece of cloth covering the head and neck and framing the face, now worn by some nuns.^[9][8][4]
2. A woman's high-necked sleeveless chemisette of light fabric, worn under a low-cut dress;^[9][2][4] robe à guimpe or robe en guimpe, a dress with such a high bodice.^[9][2][4]
3. A front panel or dickey worn with a low-cut dress or a jacket.^[9][1]
4. (by analogy) The breast of an animal, the throat of a bird.^[2]

Word family

• guimper

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 k l m n o p q r 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 586b
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF