mezzanine

Forms

mezzanine f (plural mezzanines)^[1] First spelled mezanine (1676); mezzanine is recorded in 1694.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is an architectural term borrowed from Italian mezzanino (“entresol”), recorded before 1574 in Vasari,^[2][3][4] a diminutive of mezzano (“entresol”) (from 1554), which is the adjective meaning “middle” used as a noun.^[2][3][1] Bloch and Wartburg and the Robert dictionaries connect it more directly with mezzo (“middle, half”).^[4][5][6] The Italian adjective goes back to Latin mediānus (“central, middle”), from medius (“middle”),^[1][7] and has the same origin as French moyen.^[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Félibien used it in 1676, spelled mezanine, as a synonym of entresol, a low storey between two others.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From 1691 fenestre mezanine named a small window lighting an entresol, and the noun alone came to mean such a window.^[2][3] Littré still gave both senses as architectural terms.^[9]

By analogy the word was applied to the small tier of a theatre between the stalls and the first balcony, first in Queneau (1944), who made it masculine.^[2][3] Revived by the American English use, it then widened to a raised platform or gallery built over part of a high room or workshop,^[3][6] and, in lit-mezzanine, a raised bed.^[6] English mezzanine was taken from the French word in 1711.^[7]

Timeline

• Before 1574 – Italian mezzanino “entresol” in Vasari.^[2][3]
• 1676 – Félibien uses mezanine for an entresol.^[2][3]
• 1691 – D'Aviler records fenestre mezanine, a small entresol window.^[2]
• 1694 – Thomas Corneille spells it mezzanine.^[2][10]
• 1711 – English borrows the word.^[7]
• 1944 – Queneau uses it for a tier of a theatre.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A low storey between two main storeys, an entresol.^[6][11][12]
2. (dated) A small window of an entresol.^[6][11][2]
3. In a theatre, the tier between the stalls and the first balcony.^[6][11][2]
4. A raised platform or gallery built in a room with a high ceiling, reached by a staircase: un loft avec mezzanine.^[6][11][12]
5. A raised bed, also lit-mezzanine.^[6]

Related words

• moyen
• mezzo
• Italian mezzanino
• English mezzanine

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
12. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)