mâtin

Forms

mâtin m (plural mâtins)^[1] Old French mastin (about 1155) and matin (late 12th century); the spelling mâtin dates from 1549.^[2][3] The feminine is mâtine.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French mastin, inherited from Vulgar Latin *mānsuētīnus (“tamed”), a derivative of mānsuētus (“tame, gentle”).^[4][5][6][1] The GLLF analyses the Latin adjective as manus (“hand”) and suētus (“accustomed”).^[2] The noun comes from the adjective used alone, short for a Latin phrase meaning “tame dog”, and a contracted form mastinus is recorded in the 9th century;^[6] Bloch and Wartburg think it must have named a particular kind of dog, probably a watchdog.^[5] The same adjective gave Old French mansuet “gentle, tame”.^[6] Littré reports the older idea of Diez, who derived it through Italian from masnada “household”.^[7]

The word passed into Italian mastino and Spanish mastín.^[5] The English word mastiff comes from the Old French word or from Provençal.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in Philippe de Thaon's Comput (1119), already uses the word for a large watchdog as a term of contempt for a man; the literal sense is found in Wace's Roman de Brut (1155).^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

The dog was a large, strong animal kept to guard houses and herds.^[6][4] Old and Middle French also used the word for a servant or valet, from about 1190 to the 14th century.^[6] The insult grew into a sense of its own, a coarse, rough or ugly man (15th century),^[4][9][6] and the feminine mâtine, a bitch (1573), was used from 1570 for a loose woman.^[6][4]

As an intensive the word came to praise boldness and cunning: an exclamation such as mâtine de cervelle! is recorded in 1655 and the interjection mâtin! in 1808,^[6] and the noun meant a lively, artful fellow from 1847 (Balzac) or 1867.^[4][6] The dog sense has become dated.^[6][9] The word stays very much alive in the dialects.^[6] The verb mâtiner, first “to treat like a dog”, now chiefly means to cross a bitch with a dog of another breed.^[6][5]

Timeline

• 1119 – Philippe de Thaon uses it as a term of contempt for a man.^[4][6]
• 1155 – Wace uses it for a large watchdog.^[4][3]
• c. 1190 – Used for a servant.^[6]
• 15th century – Used for a coarse, unpleasant man.^[4][9]
• 1549 – Robert Estienne spells it mâtin.^[2][3]
• 1573 – The feminine mâtine.^[4][6]
• 1808 – The interjection mâtin!.^[6]
• 1847 – Balzac uses it for a lively, artful fellow.^[4]
• 1963 – Mâtin des Pyrénées, a Spanish sheepdog, appears in the Larousse.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) A large watchdog or hunting dog; a mastiff.^[9][4][1]
2. (dated) A coarse, unpleasant or ugly man.^[9][4]
3. (familiar) A bold, artful person, a coquin; of a child, a mischievous rascal; feminine mâtine.^[9][4][1]

Interjection

1. (dated, familiar) Expressing surprise or admiration: “my word!”.^[9][4][1]

Word family

• mâtineau
• mâtiner

Related words

• mansuétude
• Latin mānsuētus
• English mastiff

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert