luette

Forms

luette f (plural luettes)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French luete, formed by fusing the definite article with Old French uete (13th century), inherited from Vulgar Latin *ūvitta, a diminutive of Latin ūva (“grape, bunch of grapes, uvula”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The organ was compared to a small grape, and the Latin word already meant “uvula” in the 1st century.^[4][5]

Littré compares Walloon louwète and Italian ugola.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as luete at the end of the 13th century, in La roe de fortune, meaning the uvula.^[2] Henri de Mondeville glosses it in 1314: La quele uvule c'est la luete, “which uvula is the luette”.^[7][8]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has not changed.^[4] Medical writers also used the learned uvule (1314), from the Latin diminutive uvula, which gave uvulaire (1735).^[4] Littré also records luette vésicale for a small swelling inside the neck of the bladder.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – Luete appears in La roe de fortune.^[2][5]
• 1314 – Henri de Mondeville uses it beside uvule.^[8][7]
• 1538 – Robert Estienne writes luette.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The uvula, the fleshy lobe hanging from the back of the soft palate, which helps close off the nasal cavity in swallowing.^[9][2]
2. (anatomy, dated) Luette vésicale: a small swelling on the inner surface of the neck of the bladder.^[7]

Related words

• uvule
• uvulaire
• Latin ūva

Usage notes

A consonant made at the uvula is called uvulaire.^[9] Godefroy also lists luettes as the name of a Spanish card game, from Rabelais's Gargantua.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 90a
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon