lambrisser

Forms

lambrisser^[1] Old French lambruschier (12th century), lambruchier (13th century) and lambroissier (from about 1225), then lambrisser (1449).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French lambruschier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *lambruscō (“to decorate with vine tendrils”), formed on *lambrusca (“wild vine”).^[3][2][4][5] The name would come from the vine motifs that often decorated such panelling.^[3][4][5] A Medieval Latin form lambruscare is recorded at Limoges in 1174.^[3][6] The modern form owes its vowel to the influence of the noun lambris, itself a deverbal of the old verb.^[2]

The Vulgar Latin noun is a variant of Latin labrusca (“wild vine”), a word of unknown origin, and also survives in lambrusque and lambruche (1509).^[2] Pierre Guiraud instead derived the word from Old French lambre (“blade, plate”) (about 1140), which he traced to a Church Latin derivative of lāmina (“thin plate”);^[2] Rey objects that this does not explain the early forms in ⟨-us-⟩ and ⟨-ois-⟩, and considers all the proposed etymologies doubtful.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as lambruschier in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Chronique des ducs de Normandie (about 1175), meaning to cover a wall or ceiling with panelling.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

If the verb first meant decorating with vine tendrils, no trace of that sense remains; it has always meant covering walls or ceilings with a facing of wood, marble or stucco, and it is now felt as a derivative of lambris.^[2][3] In the 14th century it was used of boarding the roof of a chapel with Dutch planks.^[7] In 1690 Furetière records the technical sense of spreading plaster over laths under a roof, the source of mansarde lambrissée for an attic room with plastered sloping walls.^[6][5]

From the verb come lambrisseur (as lambroisseur, about 1220) and lambrissage (1454), which displaced the older lambrissement and lambrissure.^[2]

Timeline

• 1174 – Medieval Latin lambruscare is recorded at Limoges.^[3]
• c. 1175 – Lambruschier appears in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^[3]
• c. 1225 – Gautier de Coinci writes lambroissier.^[3]
• 1449 – The spelling lambrisser is found.^[3][4]
• 1454 – First record of lambrissage.^[5][2]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “to plaster the inside of a roof”.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To panel a wall, ceiling or room with wood, marble or stucco: lambrisser une bibliothèque de chêne.^[3][5][7]
2. (technical) To spread plaster over laths under the rafters of a roof.^[5][6][7]

Word family

• lambris
• lambrissage

Related words

• lambrusque
• lambruche
• Latin labrusca

Usage notes

The past participle is common as an adjective: un bureau lambrissé de noyer, and mansarde lambrissée for an attic room with plastered sloping walls.^[3][5]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette