huître

Forms

huître f (plural huîtres)^[1] Old French oistre and uistre;^[2][3][4] oistre was used until the early 17th century.^[2][3][4] The spelling huistre appears in the 15th century and huître in 1538.^[2][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French oistre, inherited from Latin ostrea (“oyster”), from Ancient Greek ὄστρεον (óstreon).^{[2][6][3][7][1]} Rey relates the Greek noun to ὀστοῦν (ostoûn, “bone”), both naming hard things.^[3] The initial ⟨h⟩ is not etymological: it was added to keep the word from being read as vitre, at a time when ⟨u⟩ and ⟨v⟩ were the same letter, as in huile and huit.^[3][4][1]

Littré cites Walloon witt, Occitan and Spanish ostra and Italian ostrica.^[8] The Old French form was borrowed into English as oyster.^[7][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as oistre at the end of the 13th century, in Jean de Meun's Testament, in the phrase “not worth an oyster”.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The sense has stayed the same, but its objects changed: the native flat oyster declined in France between 1750 and 1850, and the Portuguese or cupped oyster, settled by accident in the Gironde and Charente in 1868, spread at its expense.^[3] Oysters were long cooked (civé d'oittres in the Ménagier about 1393); eating them raw prevailed in France only in the 19th century.^[3]

The figurative sense of a stupid person is recorded by Oudin in 1640 or 1660.^[5][2] Phrases drawn from the mollusc include bâiller comme une huître and se fermer comme une huître.^[3]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – Oistre appears in Jean de Meun's Testament.^[2][5]
• Late 13th century – English oyster is recorded, from the Old French form.^[9]
• 15th century – The spelling huistre appears in the Mystère du siège d'Orléans.^[2][5]
• 1538 – R. Estienne writes huître.^[5]
• 1660 – Oudin records it for a stupid person.^[2]
• 1868 – The Portuguese oyster settles in the Gironde and Charente.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An oyster, a bivalve mollusc with a rough shell, eaten or sought for its pearl.^[10][2]
2. (figurative, familiar) A stupid person.^[10]

Related words

• huîtrier
• huîtrière
• Latin ostrea
• English oyster

Usage notes

The phrase se fermer comme une huître means to shut oneself up and say nothing.^[10][3]

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 442a
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert