marin

Forms

marin (feminine marine, masculine plural marins, feminine plural marines)^[1] Anglo-Norman also marein and maryn.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French marin, inherited from Latin marīnus (“of the sea”), from mare (“sea”), the source of mer.^[3][4][1][5] Maritime comes from another Latin derivative of the same word.^[4] The noun for a sailor is the masculine adjective used as a noun.^[3][6] The noun naming the south wind of the Mediterranean coast was taken from Old Occitan marin (“south wind, south”), of the same Latin origin;^[3] The Latin adjective was already used as a noun at the end of the 5th century for the sea wind on the African coast.^[3]

Cognate with Italian marino, Spanish marino and Occitan marin.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The masculine was used as a noun for a seafarer early in the 12th century, in the Saint Brendan (about 1118).^[3][4] The adjective is first found about 1155 in Wace's Brut, in monstre marin “sea monster”, meaning “of the sea, living in the sea”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Between 1160 and 1174 Wace also uses the adjective for land near the sea.^[3][4] By the end of the 14th century it described things used for navigation, as in Deschamps's carte marine “sea chart”, a sense already present in estoile marine, a medieval name of the Virgin as the star that guides sailors, after Latin stella maris.^[3][4] Sel marin is recorded by Cotgrave in 1611 and avoir le pied marin “to keep one's balance on a ship” in 1673, in Madame de Sévigné.^[8][3]

The noun was rare in Old French, which preferred marinier, notonier or notinier for a seafarer.^[3][4] The Académie revived it in 1718 for a naval officer; from 1756 it meant a seafaring man generally;^[3][4][6] marin d'eau douce “inexperienced sailor” is recorded in 1811, and the sense “member of a ship's crew” in 1810.^[3][4][6] In fashion col marin (1874, Mallarmé) and costume marin, a boy's outfit modelled on the navy uniform, use the noun in apposition.^[3][4] The name of the south wind is found from 1505, and that of the sea wind in Baïf in 1573.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1118 – The noun is used for a seafarer in the Saint Brendan.^[4][3]
• c. 1155 – Wace's Brut has monstre marin.^[3]
• early 13th century – Estoile marine is applied to the Virgin.^[3]
• late 14th century – Deschamps writes of a carte marine.^[3]
• 1505 – The noun marin “south wind” is recorded.^[3]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records sel marin.^[8]
• 1673 – Madame de Sévigné uses avoir le pied marin.^[3]
• 1718 – The Académie records the noun for a naval officer.^[3][6]
• 1756 – Voltaire uses marins of seafaring people.^[3]
• 1811 – Marin d'eau douce appears.^[3]
• 1874 – Mallarmé writes of a col marin.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of the sea, living in or coming from the sea, marine: sel marin, air marin, courants marins.^[9][10]
2. Found or growing near the sea; done by the sea: cure marine.^[9][3]
3. Used for navigation at sea: carte marine, mille marin.^[9][10]
4. Of a boat, seaworthy.^[9][3]
5. Avoir le pied marin: to keep one's balance on a ship, and figuratively to keep one's composure in a difficult situation.^[3][10]

Noun

1. A person skilled in navigation at sea, a seafarer: un peuple de marins.^[9][11]
2. A man whose profession is to sail at sea, especially a member of a ship's crew as opposed to an officer, a sailor: marin-pêcheur, femme de marin.^[9][3]
3. Marin d'eau douce: an inexperienced sailor.^[3][11]
4. Col marin: a large collar, pointed in front and square at the back, like a sailor's.^[3][11]
5. (meteorology) A humid south-east wind blowing from the Mediterranean towards Languedoc and the Cévennes.^[11][3]

Word family

• marine
• marinier
• sous-marin

Related words

• mer
• maritime
• Latin marīnus

Usage notes

A proverb records the worry of a sailor's wife: femme de marin, femme de chagrin.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 344b
6. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)