langouste

Forms

langouste f (plural langoustes)^[1] Old French languste (12th century) and langoute (13th century).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Occitan langosta (“locust; spiny lobster”),^[2][4][3][5] from Vulgar Latin *lacusta, with a secondary nasal, a form altered, probably by vowel dissimilation, from Latin locusta (“locust; spiny lobster”).^[2][4][3] Bloch and Wartburg prefer dissimilation to a crossing with Latin lacertus (“lizard”).^[3] The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^[4][1]

The inherited Old French form was laöste (“locust”), and a learned locuste was taken from Latin about 1120.^[2][4] Cognate with Romanian lăcustă, Catalan llagosta, Spanish langosta and Portuguese lagosta.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as languste in the Lapidaire de Marbode in the first half of the 12th century, meaning the locust or grasshopper.^[2][4] Brunetto Latini says of John the Baptist: Sa viande fu miel et langoustes (“his food was honey and locusts”).^[7]

Semantic evolution

The sense “locust” lasted until the 17th century and is still used by Corneille.^[4][3][8] The crustacean was first named in the phrase langouste de mer in the Ménagier de Paris (1393): Langoustes sont grans escrevices (“langoustes are large crayfish”).^[2][4][7] Littré compares the Norman coasts, where shrimps are called sauterelles.^[7] Both senses are still used in southern French dialects.^[3]

In slang, langouste and langoustine have meant a prostitute or a mistress since about 1930, as sauterelle has.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – Languste “locust” in the Lapidaire de Marbode.^[2][4]
• 1393 – Langouste de mer names the crustacean in the Ménagier de Paris.^[2][4]
• 17th century – The sense “locust” goes out of use.^[4]
• 1769 – The derivative langoustier is recorded.^[4]
• 1802 – Langoustine is recorded.^[4]
• c. 1930 – Slang use for a prostitute or mistress.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The spiny lobster, a large marine decapod crustacean with long antennae and no claws, prized for its flesh.^[2][9][1]
2. (obsolete) A locust or grasshopper.^[10][4]
3. (slang) A prostitute or a mistress.^[4]

Word family

• langoustier
• langoustine

Related words

• locuste
• Latin locusta

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
3. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 396b
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse