moelle

Forms

moelle f (plural moelles)^[1] Old French mëule, moule, meole and, by metathesis, moele;^[2][3][1] Middle French mouelle.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French meole, inherited from Latin medulla (“marrow of a bone, pith of a plant”).^[2][4][1] The regular Old French outcome was mëule (1121–1134), with the variant moule before 1150; moele, by metathesis, appears at the end of the 12th century.^[3][2][4] Littré notes that the first syllable counted as one from the 13th century, though by origin it should be two.^[5] The Latin word has no established etymology, according to Rey;^[3] the GLLF connects it with medius (“middle”).^[6] The learned médullaire comes from Late Latin medullāris.^[7]

Cognate with Italian midollo, Spanish meollo and Occitan meola.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as mëule in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire (1121–1134), for the soft, fatty substance inside bones.^[2] By 1155 Wace used it for the spinal cord.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Already in the first half of the 12th century the word was used figuratively for the innermost and best part of something: the Oxford Psalter renders Latin medullam tritici as la moule de froment “the finest of the wheat”.^[2] At the end of the 12th century it came to mean what is deepest and most intimate, as in jusqu'à la moelle des os, and in the 13th century it was used for the essential meaning of a work, which Jean de Meun set against the bark (escorce) of the text.^[2][3] Rabelais made the image famous with la substantifique moelle in the prologue to Gargantua (1534).^[2][3]

The crumb of bread was called meole dou pain in the late 14th century, a sense lost before the classical period.^[2][3] As Latin medulla did, the word also named the pith of a plant (early 14th century).^[2][3] The spinal cord, first mouelle spinale (1534), became moelle épinière in the 17th century.^[2][3] In 19th-century slang avoir de la moelle meant to be energetic and brave; the use has died out.^[3]

Timeline

• 1121–1134 – Mëule appears in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire for bone marrow.^[2]
• First half of the 12th century – The Oxford Psalter uses moule for the finest part of wheat.^[2]
• 1155 – Wace uses it for the spinal cord.^[2]
• c. 1223 – Gautier de Coinci applies it to the Virgin Mary as a term of praise.^[2][3]
• 1269–1278 – Jean de Meun uses it for the essential sense of a text.^[2]
• Early 14th century – First recorded for the pith of a plant.^[2]
• 1387–1391 – La meole dou pain “the crumb of bread” in Gaston Phébus.^[2]
• 1490 – The derivative moelleux is recorded.^[4][3]
• 1534 – Rabelais writes of la substantificque mouelle and of mouelle spinale.^[2]
• 1667 – The form moelle epiniere is recorded.^[2]
• 1859 – Avoir de la moelle “to have courage” is recorded in slang.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Marrow, the soft fatty tissue inside bones (moelle osseuse).^[8][2]
2. Moelle de bœuf: beef marrow used in cooking, as in os à moelle “marrowbone”.^[8][6]
3. (figurative) The inside of the body: jusqu'à la moelle des os “to the very marrow”.^[8][5]
4. Moelle épinière: the spinal cord.^[8][2]
5. (botany) The pith at the centre of a stem or root.^[8][3]
6. (figurative) The essence or substance of something, especially of a work: la substantifique moelle.^[8][3]

Word family

• moelleux

Related words

• médullaire
• Latin medulla

Usage notes

Mœlle is an alternative spelling.^[1] Littré notes that the word was once pronounced in three syllables, citing a line of Rotrou.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 q r s t u v w 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 l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert