menton

Forms

menton m (plural mentons)^[1] Old French menton, mentun.^[1] Anglo-Norman mentun, mentoun.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French menton, inherited from Vulgar Latin *mentō (“chin”), which replaced Classical Latin mentum (“chin”), from which it was derived.^[3][4][1] The TLFi thinks that the Vulgar Latin word must first have meant “little chin”, while Rey suggests “having a prominent chin”.^[3][5] Italian mento, by contrast, continues the classical word directly.^[6][7]

Cognate with Occitan menton, Catalan mentó, Romansh mintun, Piedmontese menton and Venetian menton.^[1][8] Rey assigns the Latin word to the western Indo-European vocabulary, beside Welsh mant and Old High German munt, and probably to a root Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to project”), also behind éminent and mont.^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Passion of Clermont at the end of the 10th century, naming the chin as part of the face.^[3][9] The Chanson de Roland has Puis se baiserent es viz e es mentons (“then they kissed each other on the face and on the chin”).^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word kept its anatomical sense throughout.^[3] Rey notes that the rich medieval phraseology built on it has disappeared, except perhaps lever le menton “to raise one's head”, recorded from 1607.^[5] Modern phrases describe its shape and fullness: menton en galoche “jutting chin” (1704) and double menton, triple menton (1718).^[5]

By analogy it was applied to the underside of the lower jaw of certain animals in 1664, and in 1845 it acquired special senses in entomology and ornithology.^[3][5][9]

Timeline

• c. 980 – First record, in the Passion of Clermont.^[5][3]
• 1113–1119 – Anglo-Norman mentun “chin, jaw”.^[2]
• 1370 – The diminutive mentonnet “little chin”.^[5]
• 1373 – mentonnière, the part of a garment covering the chin.^[5]
• 1607 – Lever le menton “to raise one's head”.^[5]
• 1664 – Solleysel uses it for the underside of an animal's lower jaw.^[3]
• 1718 – Double menton and triple menton.^[5][9]
• 1845 – Bescherelle records the sense in zoology.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The chin, the part of the face below the lower lip, formed by the end of the lower jaw.^[10][3]
2. Double menton, triple menton: folds of fat under the chin.^[10]
3. Menton en galoche: a long, jutting chin.^[10][5]
4. (zoology) In chewing insects, part of the lower lip; also the area under the beak of a bird.^[10][9]

Word family

• mentonnet
• mentonnière

Related words

• Latin mentum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 753a
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert