lacs

Forms

lacs m (invariable)^[1] Old French laz and las; the spelling lacs appears about 1360, in Froissart.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French laz, inherited from Latin laqueus (“noose, snare, net”).^[5][6][7] The Latin word was a hunting term, later used figuratively for a trap, and Rey thinks it was probably borrowed, perhaps from Etruscan, like many Latin words with the same ending.^[7] The old spelling was still found in 1636.^[5] The modern spelling with ⟨c⟩ follows the related lacer and lacet.^[5][2][4] Littré explains the modern form as the old stem with the ⟨s⟩ of the old forms added.^[8]

Cognate with Italian laccio, Old Occitan latz, Spanish lazo and Portuguese laço.^[8][4][9][1] The Spanish word is the source of lasso.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears as laz in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), for the laces that tied the helmet to the hood of the hauberk.^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

From its first sense of a cord used to fasten something, lacs was used about 1150 for the laces of a tunic and, in 1388, for the silk cord on which the king's seal hung from his letters.^[5][7] A figurative use for bonds appears in the first half of the 12th century, in the Cambridge Psalter.^[5] The hunting sense, a noose or snare to catch game, is found in Marie de France about 1170, and its figurative use for a trap a few years later.^[5][7]

Both the hunting sense and the figurative trap have since fallen out of use, and the word is now much less common than its diminutive lacet.^[7] Lacs d'amour, an ornamental cord in the shape of a figure eight lying on its side, is recorded from 1420 and still occurs.^[5][7] Bloch and Wartburg call the word only literary today.^[4] The Old French word passed into English as lace in the early 13th century.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Laz appears in the Chanson de Roland, for the laces of a helmet.^[5]
• First half of the 12th century – A figurative use for bonds appears in the Cambridge Psalter.^[5]
• c. 1170 – Marie de France uses it for a snare to catch game.^[5][7]
• Early 13th century – English borrows the Old French word as lace.^[10]
• c. 1360 – The spelling lacs appears, in Froissart.^[2][3]
• 1388 – It names the silk cord of a royal seal.^[5][7]
• 1420 – First record of laz d'amour, an ornamental cord.^[5][7]
• 1765 – The Encyclopédie records a weaving sense.^[5]
• 1867 – Littré records tomber dans le lacs “to be in difficulties”.^[3][11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic) A noose or snare for catching game.^[12][1]
2. (figurative, archaic) A trap or ruse.^[12][1]
3. Lacs d'amour: ornamental cords interlaced in the shape of a figure eight lying on its side.^[12][5]
4. (dated) A thin, strong cord used to fasten something, such as the silk cord of a seal.^[5][8]
5. (surgery) A strong tie used to apply traction.^[12][8]

Word family

• lacet

Related words

• lacer
• lasso
• Latin laqueus
• English lace

Usage notes

Littré gives the pronunciation /lɑ/ and says the ⟨c⟩ is never pronounced, with the ⟨s⟩ heard only in liaison.^[8] The phrase tomber dans le lac “to fail, come to nothing” is traced back to tomber dans les lacs “to fall into a trap”.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 180a
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
12. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert