lingot

Forms

lingot m (plural lingots)^[1] Earlier langot (1380); a Judaeo-French langot is also found in the late 14th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

The origin is disputed.^[4][5] Bloch and Wartburg, the FEW and the GLLF take it as borrowed from Old Occitan lingot, recorded in 1403 for an ingot mould, derived from lenga (“tongue”), from Latin lingua, after the long shape given to these pieces of metal; the English ingot would then come from the French word, with the loss of an initial l- taken for the article.^[2][6][7][4] Picoche, the Petit Robert and the Grand Robert give the Provençal origin as probable.^[8][3][9]

Gamillscheg's dictionary, cited by the TLFi, held the opposite view: that French took the English word, which meant “ingot mould” and is first recorded in Chaucer about 1386, with the definite article fused to it.^[4][5] The English word is itself explained as in and the past participle of Old English gēotan (“to pour”).^[4][5][10] Littré followed this English origin but thought derivation from the Latin word for “tongue” still possible.^[11] Rey calls the word of unknown origin, since too few early records survive to decide.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in 1392 in the register of the Châtelet in Paris, for a mass of cast metal: Tout fu fondu en un lingot qui pesoit deux mars d'argent “all was melted into an ingot that weighed two marks of silver”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word kept its sense of a mass of cast metal not yet worked, and came to mean in particular a bar of precious metal, lingot d'or (1707).^[5][7] By likeness it named the slug of lead or iron loaded into a gun for big game (1721), a sense now gone, and a block of metal used by printers to fill blank spaces (1832).^[4][5] The derivative lingotière “ingot mould” (1606) may follow the Provençal lingotiera (1506).^[5]

Timeline

• 1380 – Earliest form langot.^[2][3][9]
• c. 1386 – Chaucer has English ingot “mould for metal”.^[4][5][10]
• 1392 – Lingot appears in the register of the Châtelet.^[4]
• 1403 – Provençal lingot “ingot mould” is recorded.^[4][7]
• 1606 – Lingotière is recorded.^[5]
• 1707 – Lesage writes lingot d'or.^[5][7]
• 1721 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux records the hunting slug.^[4][7]
• 1832 – Used in typography.^[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. An ingot: a mass of metal or alloy that keeps the shape of the mould it was cast in: un lingot de fonte.^[3][12][4]
2. Especially, a bar of gold of about one kilogram: lingot d'or.^[3][12]
3. (typography) A block of non-printing metal used to fill large blank spaces in a page.^[3][12]
4. A shelling bean with large, long white seeds.^[3]
5. (hunting, obsolete) A small cylinder of lead or iron used as a slug in a gun.^[11][4]

Word family

• lingotière

Related words

• langue
• Old Occitan lenga
• English ingot

Usage notes

The final ⟨t⟩ is never pronounced, even in liaison, but the ⟨s⟩ of the plural is.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 365b
7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
9. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
12. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)