marteau

Forms

marteau m (plural marteaux)^[1] Old French martel (plural marteals, martiaus), also marteil (1206); the singular marteau is found from about 1380.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French martel, inherited from Late Latin martellus (in Isidore of Seville and the Latin glossaries), from martulus, an altered form of marculus (“hammer”).^[2][5][6] This is a hypercorrect form, made in reaction to the popular change of -culus to -clus, after the model of vetulus (“old”) beside Vulgar Latin veclus.^[2][7] The latter is the diminutive of marcus, which Bloch and Wartburg and Rey regard as a late form made from it;^[7][5] Rey relates the word to malleus (“hammer”).^[5] The modern singular was formed from the Old French plural marteaus.^[1][3]

Cognate with Italian martello, Old Occitan martel, Catalan martell, Spanish martillo and Portuguese martelo.^[8][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1140 the Voyage de Charlemagne has the plural marteals for iron tools used to beat and forge metal.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Special kinds followed, such as the marteau à maçon (1389) and marteau de tapisserie (1453), and entre le marteau et l'enclume “between the hammer and the anvil” is found in 1206.^[2][5] By likeness of use it named many striking tools from Middle French on: the forester's marking hammer (1302), a door knocker (14th century), a war hammer (1391), the striker of a clock (1453), the hammer of a piano (1751) and the auctioneer's hammer (1848).^[2][5] The small bone of the ear is so called from 1611, paired with enclume.^[5]

Avoir un coup de marteau “to be mad” is in Ronsard (1587), whence the familiar adjective être marteau (1889; 1882 according to Bloch and Wartburg).^[2][5][7] In sport the word names the throwing hammer (1900) and the event itself.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – Marteals in the Voyage de Charlemagne.^[2]
• 1206 – Entre le marteil et l'anclume in Guiot de Provins.^[2]
• 1302 – The forester's marking hammer.^[2]
• c. 1380 – The singular marteau.^[3][9]
• 1391 – Marteau d'arme, a war hammer.^[2]
• 1587 – Ronsard writes avoir un coup de marteau “to be mad”.^[2][10]
• 1611 – The bone of the middle ear.^[5]
• 1751 – The hammer of a keyboard instrument, in Diderot.^[2]
• 1889 – Être marteau “to be crazy”.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hammer, a tool with a metal head on a handle, for striking or driving nails.^[9][2]
2. Être entre le marteau et l'enclume: to be caught between two opposing sides.^[9][4]
3. A door knocker.^[1][5]
4. A striking part: the hammer of a piano², the striker of a clock, an auctioneer's gavel.^[1][5]
5. (anatomy) The malleus, a small bone of the middle ear.^[1][5]
6. (athletics) The throwing hammer; the hammer throw.^[1][5]
7. (forestry) A marking hammer used on trees to be felled.^[5][2]
8. Requin marteau: the hammerhead shark.^[5][1]

Adjective

1. (familiar) Crazy: il est complètement marteau.^[5][7]

Word family

• marteau-pilon
• marteau-piolet
• marteau-piqueur
• requin-marteau
• marteler
• martelage
• marteleur
• martellerie
• martelet

Related words

• martèlement
• martel
• Latin marculus

Usage notes

The Old French form survives in se mettre martel en tête “to worry”.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 308b
7. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF