Etymologically
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limousine

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /li.mu.zin/[1]

Forms

limousine f (plural limousines)[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine of limousin used as a noun,[2][3][4][5] the adjective and noun of the province of Limousin, from Late Latin “Lemovicinium”, from the tribal name Latin Lemovīcēs, “warriors of the elm”, related to the Gaulish name of the elm (see Limoges).[3] The cloak was so called because shepherds of the Limousin wore it.[4][3] Guiraud, quoted by the Grand Robert, thought it unrelated to the province: a carter's cloak against the mud, from Latin līmus (“mud”).[6]

How it came to name a car is not clear: Wartburg compared the cloak that protects from rain with the closed car (compare capote and capot); the type of body has also been credited to the engineer Charles Jeantaud (1843–1906), born in Limoges, and a horse carriage called “limousine” in the regional French of Saintonge (18th century) has been overlooked.[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1836, Balzac's Une ténébreuse affaire (1841) has it for a woollen cloak worn by shepherds.[2][4][7]

Semantic evolution

In La Locomotion (7 June 1902) it named a car whose body was fully enclosed with side windows only for the rear passengers, the driver being protected only by the roof and windscreen.[2][3][5] Today it is a large luxury car with a partition between the chauffeur and the rear seats.[3][8]

English took the word in 1902, and in the United States it came to mean a large hired car or an airport shuttle (from 1959); French borrowed this sense back in the 1960s.[9][3]

Timeline

  • 1836 – A cloak, according to Bloch and Wartburg.[4]
  • 1841 – In Balzac.[2]
  • 1902 – A car, in La Locomotion, English limousine.[2][9]
  • 1959 – American airport limousines.[9]
  • 1960s – The American sense in French.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A limousine, luxury car.[1][10]
  2. (dated) A four-door car with six windows.[10][8]
  3. (dated) A shepherd's or carter's cloak of coarse wool.[10][5]
  4. A Limousin (cow).[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  8. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert