louve

Forms

louve f (plural louves)^[1] Old French love (1174–1177) and lue (about 1265); louve from the 15th century.^[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman leuve, leue, luve and lowe.^[5] A Tournai document of 1460 writes louwe.^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French love, inherited from Latin lupa (“she-wolf, prostitute”), the feminine of lupus (“wolf”).^[2][7][3][4] According to Rey, the Latin figurative sense “prostitute” came before “she-wolf”: for the animal the Romans said “female wolf”, and a separate feminine was needed only because lustfulness was ascribed to the female.^[3] The technical senses of the French word allude to the wolf's grip and to its greed.^[2][8] For the lifting tool, Littré gives a separate headword and explains it by comparison with the she-wolf's bite.^[9]

Cognate with Italian lupa, Occitan loba, Catalan lloba, Spanish loba and Portuguese loba.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as love in the Roman de Renart (1174–1177), as the name of the she-wolf Hersant: Hersant la love.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Brunetto Latini's Trésor (about 1265) tells of the she-wolf's mating and of the legend of Romulus and Remus, and explains that the woman who nursed them was a common prostitute, such women being called lues in Latin.^[2][9] The sense “debauched woman” is thus attested from 1265, but it died out in the second half of the 18th century.^[3]

By analogy with the animal, the word took several technical senses: an iron tool for lifting dressed stones (1460), a barrel through which cod were dropped into a ship's hold (1679), and a round fishing net (1680).^[2][3] Cotgrave records it in 1611 for large tongs used to lift loads.^[6] The Roman she-wolf became an emblem of the Roman state, and les fils de la louve meant the Romans (1867) and, later, the Freemasons (1931).^[6]

Timeline

• 1174–1177 – Love appears in the Roman de Renart.^[2]
• c. 1265 – Brunetto Latini uses lue of the she-wolf and of a prostitute.^[2][3]
• 15th century – The form louve is established.^[4][11]
• 1460 – A Tournai document mentions the lifting tool for dressed stones.^[2][3]
• 1552 – Robert Estienne has louve de fer.^[2]
• 1679 – Fournier's Hydrographie uses it for the barrel of cod-fishing boats.^[2]
• 1680 – Richelet records the sense “round fishing net”.^[2]
• Second half of the 18th century – The sense “prostitute” goes out of use.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A she-wolf, the female of the wolf.^[11][2][12]
2. The Roman she-wolf that, in legend, suckled Romulus and Remus, and its statues as an emblem of Rome.^[11][2]
3. (technology) A lewis, a metal wedge or tool fixed into a dressed stone to lift it.^[2][11][13]
4. (fishing) A fyke net with two opposite entrances.^[11][2]
5. (nautical) A chute for loading or unloading ships.^[2]
6. (obsolete) A debauched woman.^[9][3]

Word family

• louveteau
• louver

Related words

• lou
• loup
• lupanar
• Latin lupus

Usage notes

The Latin sense “prostitute” survives in the borrowing lupanar.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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 i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 457b
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 462b
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
13. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)