joug

Forms

joug m (plural jougs)^[1] Old French jou, jug and jof.^[1] The Oxford Psalter has the spelling juh.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French jou, inherited from Latin iugum (“yoke”).^[4][5][6][1] The Latin ⟨g⟩ dropped out early; the final ⟨g⟩ came back in the 13th century as a learned spelling after the Latin word, and it is sounded only in bookish speech.^[6][5]

The Latin word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *yugóm,^[1] from an Indo-European root for harnessing, which Rey also finds in Ancient Greek ζυγόν (zugón) and Hittite iugan.^[5] Cognate with Italian giogo, Romanian jug, Occitan jo and Catalan jou.^[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in the first half of the 12th century, in the Oxford Psalter, in the figurative sense of the subjection imposed by a master, translating Latin jugum.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense came first in the records, by chance of the texts: a heavy constraint borne by someone, then from about 1265 the constraint of a moral or social duty, as in le joug du mariage (1544).^[4][5] The concrete sense, the curved wooden piece set on the head or neck of oxen to harness them, is found about 1170; in the industrialized countries the object had almost disappeared by the 20th century.^[4][5]

From 1526 the phrase faire joug meant “to submit”, and by 1690 the word named the Roman yoke of three spears under which the defeated were made to pass.^[4][5] Secouer le joug “to throw off the yoke” is recorded in 1538.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – The Oxford Psalter uses it for subjection to a master.^[4][2]
• c. 1170 – The Livre des Rois uses it for the yoke of oxen.^[4]
• 13th century – The spelling with final ⟨g⟩ appears.^[6][5]
• c. 1265 – Brunetto Latini uses it for the constraint of the virtues.^[4]
• 1526 – Faire joug “to submit” is recorded.^[4]
• 1538 – Secouer le joug is recorded by Robert Estienne.^[2]
• 1544 – Clément Marot writes le jou de mariage.^[4]
• 1690 – Furetière records the Roman sense.^[4][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A yoke: a wooden piece fixed on the heads or necks of oxen to harness them.^[8][4]
2. (figurative) A heavy material or moral constraint, domination: vivre sous le joug d'un occupant.^[8][4]
3. (Roman history) A spear laid across two others under which defeated enemies were made to pass.^[3][2]
4. The beam of a balance.^[1]

Word family

• jouguet

Related words

• conjuguer
• subjuguer
• joindre
• jugal
• Latin iugum

Usage notes

Littré gives /ʒuɡ/ but notes that in the country the word was said /ʒu/, as in the 17th century, when the grammarian Chifflet remarked that the ⟨g⟩ was never sounded.^[3] The phrases mettre sous le joug “to subjugate” and le joug du mariage are recorded in the dictionaries.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert