liège

Forms

liège m (plural lièges)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *levius, an enlarged form of Latin levis (“light in weight, of little importance”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The bark was named for its lightness.^[2][3][4] The same Latin adjective gave léger.^[3]

The Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch lists other outcomes of the Vulgar Latin word in southern Italian, Genoese and Sardinian dialects.^[7] In southern France, where the tree grows, it is named from Latin sūber (“cork”), as in Provençal sieure.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is from the early 13th century, in Raoul de Houdenc's Vengeance Raguidel, for the bark of the evergreen oak.^[2] The Grand Robert and the GLLF date it to about 1180, in Girart de Roussillon.^[5][8]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first sense, the light bark of the cork oak, which was in common use for its many purposes, above all for stoppers in the wine- and cider-making regions.^[3]

In 1562 Du Pinet used liège for the tree itself,^[2][8] and the compound chêne-liège (1600, Olivier de Serres) was then made to tell the tree from its bark.^[4] In botany the word was extended (1902, Nouveau Larousse illustré) to the secondary tissue of dead, air-filled cells that covers the stems of many plants.^[2][3]

Its derivatives are technical: liéger (1492), liégé (1492) and liégeux (1803).^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1180 – Found in Girart de Roussillon.^[5][8]
• Early 13th century – Raoul de Houdenc uses it for the bark of the evergreen oak.^[2]
• 1492 – The verb liéger is first recorded.^[3]
• 1562 – Du Pinet uses it for the cork oak itself.^[2][8]
• 1600 – Olivier de Serres uses the compound chêne-liège.^[4]
• 1902 – The Nouveau Larousse illustré gives the botanical sense.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. cork, the light, waterproof, insulating and elastic material formed by the outer bark of the cork oak.^[9][2]
2. Liège mâle is the first layer stripped from the tree, liège femelle the layer that grows back.^[9][2]
3. (dated) Short for chêne-liège, the cork oak.^[8]
4. (botany) The secondary protective tissue of dead cells filled with air, whose walls contain suberin.^[9][2][8]

Word family

• chêne-liège
• liéger
• liégeux

Related words

• léger
• Latin levis

Usage notes

The name of the Belgian city and province of Liège has a separate origin: it is found in Medieval Latin as Leodium, probably from a Germanic word for “people”.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 291a
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert