moellon

Forms

moellon m (plural moellons)^[1] Old French moilon, moillon and moulon, Middle French moiron; the spelling moellon dates from 1504.^[2][3][4] The Académie noted in 1694 that some wrote moilon.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French moilon, inherited from Vulgar Latin *mutuliō, an altered form of mutulus (“mutule, a corbel or bracket in architecture”).^{[2][6][3][7][1]} The spelling with ⟨oe⟩ is a reshaping after moelle (marrow), by popular etymology.^[2][3][6] Rey adds that the Latin architectural term may have been borrowed from Etruscan.^[6]

The Robert dictionaries give another origin, from Vulgar Latin *modiolō, from modiolus (“hub”).^[8][4] Littré thought the origin uncertain and recorded older guesses: Palissy derived it from the word for marrow because the stone is soft, and Grandgagnage from the Walloon verb môieler (“to fill with stones”).^[9]

Wiktionary compares Italian modiglione and Spanish mojón, and makes it a doublet of modillon, taken from Italian.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old French moillon first meant a big piece of bread (late 12th century, Robert le Diable).^[2][6] About 1200 Graindor de Douai's Chanson de Jérusalem uses it for building stone: Qui portent cailloux bis et quarrax et moilon (“who carry grey pebbles and squared stones and rubble”).^[2]

Semantic evolution

As a building word it has meant a cut stone since about 1200, and by analogy a parpaing.^[6] Middle French accounts use moillon for small stone used, for example, in earthworks and roadways (Mons, 1336).^[10] Palissy explained in the 16th century that the soft stones of the Paris quarries were called moilons.^[9] The Académie in 1694 defined it as a piece of rough stone from the quarry, above the freestone, used for foundations and walls.^[5]

In mirror-making it was used by analogy for the stone used to polish glass (1752).^[2][6] In geology it names a stone of a size between a block and a pebble.^[4]

Timeline

• late 12th century – Moillon “big piece of bread” in Robert le Diable.^[2]
• c. 1200 – Graindor de Douai uses moilon for building stone.^[2][6]
• 1336 – Moillon appears in the accounts of Mons.^[10]
• 1387 – The derivative moilonneur is recorded.^[6]
• 1504 – The spelling moellon appears in the accounts of the château of Gaillon.^[2][6]
• 1694 – The Académie records moellon, noting the spelling moilon.^[5]
• 1752 – The Trévoux dictionary records the sense “stone for polishing glass”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (building) A rubblestone, a building stone of handy size and weight, used in the body of walls and usually covered with plaster or mortar: un mur de moellons.^[4][2][1]
2. (geology) A stone of a size between a block and a pebble.^[4]
3. (glassmaking) A stone for polishing mirror glass.^[2]

Word family

• moellonnage

Related words

• mutule
• modillon

Usage notes

The GLLF has a separate noun moellon, the oily by-product of chamoisage (chamois tanning), recorded in 1874, an alteration under the influence of moelle of moleau (1812), from mol, the old form of mou.^[11]

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 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Académie française (1694), Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie françoise, 1st ed., Paris: Coignard
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3, 306b
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
11. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse