guipure

Forms

guipure f (plural guipures)^[1] First written ghippure (1393); guipure from the 17th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French guiper + -ure, first as ghippure.^{[2][5][4][6][7]} The verb guiper “to cover with silk, wool and the like” (1350) comes from Frankish *wīpan (“to wrap”),^[5][6][7] reconstructed from Middle High German wīfen (“to wind, twist”) and Middle Dutch wīpen (“to crown”).^[6][5][1] Rey notes that the change of ⟨w-⟩ to ⟨g-⟩ shows the verb came into Gallo-Romance long before the 14th century.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded in 1393 as ghippure, in a document published by Dehaisnes in his history of art in Flanders, for a kind of passementerie.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From trimming made by winding silk over twisted thread, the word came to name a lace without a ground, whose motifs are separated by wide gaps, used for collars and cuffs and for curtains and blinds.^[2][6][8][9] It is more common than the verb guiper, and in the 19th century it took figurative uses for anything with an openwork, delicate look: Nerval describes steeples cut out like guipure (1854), and Flaubert writes of dew leaving silver guipure on cabbages (1857).^[6][2][3][8]

Timeline

• 1393 – Ghippure “trimming” appears.^[2][3]
• 17th century – The spelling guipure.^[4][3]
• 1854 – Nerval uses it figuratively of carved steeples.^[2]
• 1857 – Flaubert's figurative use.^[3][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. Guipure: a lace of thread or silk without a ground, with widely spaced motifs, used for trimming clothes and for curtains: guipure de Venise, un col de guipure.^{[2][8][9][10]}
2. (figurative, literary) Anything whose openwork and fine pattern recall this lace.^[2][8]

Related words

• guiper
• guipage
• guipoir
• dentelle

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)