lainier

Forms

lainier m (plural lainiers, feminine lainière)^[1] Old French lanier, feminine laniere.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French laine + -ier.^[3][5][6][7] The TLFi derives the oldest noun sense and the adjective from the French noun, but takes the senses “wool merchant” and “wool worker” from Late Latin lānārius (“wool worker”), which in medieval texts meant “wool merchant” (lanerius 1230, lanarius 1258);^[3] Rey too sees the influence of the Latin word.^[8] The GLLF derives the noun directly from that Latin noun, itself the classical adjective lānārius (“of wool”) used as a noun,^[2] and the Académie calls it a borrowing from Latin.^[9] The base noun is from Latin lāna (“wool”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Carité of the Reclus de Molliens (first quarter of the 13th century), as a scornful name for a hired shepherd who cares only about the profit he can make from the flock's wool.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

From the end of the 13th century the noun named a wool trader (1296) and a wool worker (1306), with the feminine laniere by 1344.^[3][8] The form lainier appears in the 16th century.^[2] Littré still gave “wool trader” as a sense but called it old.^[7]

The adjective began in Savary des Bruslons' commercial dictionary with barque lainière, a small French boat that smuggled wool from England.^[3][2][7] It spread in the 19th century, in marchand lainier (1840) and industrie lainière (1867), and stays a more technical word than laineux.^[3][8] Since Larousse (1873) the noun has also meant the owner of a wool-weaving mill.^[2]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – The Reclus de Molliens uses it of a greedy hired shepherd.^[3][8]
• 1296 – It names a wool trader in the Paris tax roll.^[3][8]
• 1306 – Guillaume Guiart uses it of a wool worker.^[3][8]
• 1344 – The feminine laniere is recorded.^[3][4]
• 1723 – Savary des Bruslons records barque lainière.^[2][10]
• 1840 – Marchand lainier is recorded.^[3]
• 1867 – First record of l’industrie lainière.^[3][5]
• 1873 – Larousse gives the noun the sense “owner of a wool mill”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who trades in wool or works it.^[5][11][3]
2. The owner of a wool-weaving mill.^[5][2]

Adjective

1. Relating to wool as a raw material or a commodity: la production lainière, un pays lainier.^[5][11][9]
2. Of an animal: bred for its wool.^[9]

Related words

• laine
• lainage
• laineux
• Latin lānārius

Usage notes

In apposition it qualifies a trade, as in marchand lainier and ouvrier lainier.^[3][9] The feminine plural les lainières can stand alone for the wool industries.^[9]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
10. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)