laine

Forms

laine f (plural laines)^[1] Old French lainne, lein;^[1][2] Anglo-Norman also leine, layne.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French lainne, inherited from Latin lāna (“wool”), which in Late Latin also meant a woollen garment.^[3][4][5] Rey derives the Latin word from *wel- (“to pluck”), with the reasoning that fleeces were plucked by hand in prehistoric times; the same root gave the Germanic words for wool, English wool, Dutch wol and German Wolle.^[5] The Petit Robert gives the root as one found in words for hair and wool, with Polish wełna (“fleece, wool”) and Welsh gwlân (“wool”).^[6]

Cognate with Italian lana, Spanish lana, Catalan llana, Portuguese lã, Occitan lana and Romanian lână.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century), meaning the soft hair forming the fleece of sheep and some other animals.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

By metonymy the word named wool as a material to be worked (filler leine, 1262) and a woollen cloth or garment (about 1200).^[3][5] The familiar use for a woollen cardigan, especially une petite laine, appears only about 1900.^[5]

Se laisser manger la laine sur le dos, “to let oneself be fleeced”, is recorded in 1640, and bas de laine “savings” in 1907.^[3][5] By analogy the word was used for thick frizzy hair (1798), for the down of plants and for fibrous products: laine minérale (1882), laine de verre (1934).^[5] In Canada pure laine describes French Canadians of long-established families.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – First recorded in the Oxford Psalter.^[3][5]
• c. 1200 – It names a woollen cloth or garment.^[3]
• 1380 – Bêtes à laine “wool-bearing animals” is recorded.^[3]
• 1550 – Du Bellay uses avoir les piez de laine “to be slow to act”.^[3]
• 1640 – Oudin records se laisser manger la laine sur le dos.^[3]
• 1882 – Laine minérale appears.^[5]
• c. 1900 – Petite laine “cardigan” comes into familiar use.^[5]
• 1934 – Laine de verre “glass wool” appears.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. wool, the soft hair of sheep and some other animals, used as a textile fibre: bêtes à laine.^[6][3]
2. Wool spun into yarn, or a woollen fabric: un pull en laine.^[3][6]
3. (familiar) A woollen cardigan or jumper: une petite laine.^[5][6]
4. A fibrous material like wool: laine de verre, laine minérale.^[5][3]

Word family

• lainer
• lainerie
• laineux
• lainier
• lainage

Related words

• lange
• flanelle
• Latin lāna
• English wool

Usage notes

Bas de laine means one's savings, and se laisser manger la laine sur le dos to let oneself be exploited.^[5][3] In Quebec pure laine is said of French Canadians of old stock, sometimes with a slighting connotation towards recent immigrants.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 147a
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4875