jet

jet¹ throw, spurt

Etymology tree of jet¹

inherited borrowed derived

French jeter

French jet

Pronunciation

• /ʒɛ/^[1]

Forms

jet m (plural jets)^[1] Old French giet and get;^[2] gect in the 15th century, ject and jet in the 16th.^[2]

Etymology

The word for a throw is a deverbal noun from French jeter.^[3][2][4][5] Wiktionary instead derives it from Old French giet, from Vulgar Latin *iectus, an altered form of Latin iactus (“a throw”).^[1] Meyer-Lübke lists it among the outcomes of the same Latin noun, with Italian getto and Old Occitan get.^[6][7] The verb comes from Late Latin iectō, an altered form of iactō, the frequentative of iaciō (“to throw”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace's Roman de Brut (1155) uses it for a throw of the dice.^[9][3]

Semantic evolution

From the act of throwing it soon meant the distance a thrown thing covers (Wace, 1160–1174), as in le giet d'une pierre menue (1174–1180, Chrétien de Troyes), whence à un jet de pierre.^[9] In Old French it also meant a tie, first the jess on a hawk's foot (about 1200), and later a band of fabric edging a gown (1449).^[9][7] From the late 14th century it was used of jettisoning cargo at sea and of missiles, whence armes de jet (1554).^[9]

What is thrown onto paper gave the sense of a first draft (1395), whence premier jet “rough draft” (1549, Estienne), and d'un seul jet “at one go”.^[9][10] The casting of metal into a mould is recorded in 1636.^[9] A spout of liquid gave jet d'eau “fountain” (1671), later jet de lumière (1771), and a new shoot of a plant is recorded from 1419.^[9]

English borrowed the noun in the 1690s for a stream of water; the English sense “jet aircraft” later came back into French as a separate word.^[11][3]

Timeline

• 1155 – Wace uses it for a throw of the dice.^[9]
• 1160–1174 – The distance a thrown thing covers.^[9]
• 1174–1176 – A tie, later the jess of a hawk.^[9]
• late 14th century – The jettisoning of cargo, and missiles.^[9]
• 1395 – The draft of a document.^[9]
• 1419 – A new shoot of a plant.^[9]
• 1549 – Premier ject “rough draft” in Estienne.^[9][10]
• 1636 – Monet records the casting of molten metal.^[9][2]
• 1671 – Jet d'eau in Pomey.^[9]
• 1690s – English borrows it as jet “stream of water”.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A throw: the act of throwing something, or its movement through the air: un jet de cailloux.^[4][12]
2. The distance covered by a thrown thing: à un jet de pierre, “a stone's throw”.^[4][12][13]
3. A spurt or stream of a fluid forced out, and the fluid itself: un jet de vapeur, jet d'eau “fountain”.^[12][13]
4. A nozzle on a pipe or hose, and the water it sends out: laver la terrasse au jet.^[12]
5. (technical) The pouring of molten metal into a mould: d'un seul jet, “at one go”.^[4][13]
6. Premier jet: the first draft of a work.^[13][10]
7. (nautical) Jet à la mer: jettisoning part of the cargo.^[4]

Word family

• jet d'eau

jet² jet aircraft

Etymology tree of jet²

inherited borrowed derived

English jet

French jet

From the same root · jet²

English jetty ← jet

Pronunciation

• /dʒɛt/^[1]

Forms

jet m (plural jets)^[1]

Etymology

The word for a jet aircraft is borrowed from English jet, short for jet plane, whose parts mean “a gush of gas” and “aeroplane”.^[3][4][1] The English noun had itself been borrowed in the 1690s from the French word for a throw or spurt, and it was applied to aircraft driven by jet propulsion from 1944.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded in 1957, cited by Höfler, for a jet aircraft.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1944 – English jet is used of an aircraft.^[11]
• 1957 – First French record, in Höfler.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anglicism) A jet aircraft, especially a passenger one: ils sont partis en jet privé.^[4][12]