luter

Forms

luter (transitive verb)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin lutō (“to daub with mud or clay”), from lutum (“mud, clay”).^[2][3][4] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert instead derive it in French from lut, the sealing paste, and the GLLF allows both explanations.^[5][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rabelais uses it in Pantagruel (1532) in the sense “to coat with mud”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Like the noun lut, the verb narrowed from mud to a technical sealing paste: the past participle luté “coated with lute” is found in 1558, in Des Périers.^[2][3] The GLLF dates the sense “to surround with lute against fire” to about 1534 and “to seal with lute” to about 1560, in Paré;^[4] Littré quotes Paré on an alembic tube well sealed with lut de sapience.^[6] Flaubert used it for sealing jars with various ingredients, and Huysmans figuratively.^[4]

The noun lutation (1555) first meant a coating, later (1752) the act of sealing with lute;^[2][3] lutage (1877) is the usual technical term today.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1532 – Rabelais uses it in Pantagruel for coating with mud.^[2]
• 1555 – The derivative lutation appears.^[2][3]
• 1558 – Luté “coated with lute” in Des Périers.^[2]
• c. 1560 – Paré uses it for sealing with lute.^[4]
• 1877 – Lutage is first recorded.^[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (technical) To seal or coat with lut, a paste that hardens as it dries: luter un bocal.^[1][2]
2. (technical) To surround with lute as a protection against fire.^[4]
3. To close a container hermetically with various substances: luter les bouchons à la cire.^[4][2]

Word family

• lutage
• lutation
• déluter

Related words

• lut
• Latin lutum

Usage notes

The opposite is déluter.^[1] Luter is a homophone of lutter “to fight”.^[1] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary records an Anglo-Norman luter “to coat with lute or clay” from the first third of the 14th century.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)