moisson

Forms

moisson f (plural moissons)^[1] Old French meissun, meisson, moison and messon.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French meisson, inherited from Latin messiō (“harvesting, harvest time, crop”),^[2][3][5] taken in its accusative form,^[6][1] derived from messis (“harvest”),^[2][3] which comes from metō (“to reap, to mow”).^[3][7] Rey traces the verb to a probably Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *met- (“to cut a crop”), found only in Italic and Celtic.^[3] Bloch and Wartburg treat the noun as a popular Latin form.^[8]

Cognate with Old Occitan meisson and Walloon mèhon;^[8][7] Italian messe and Spanish mies continue the Latin word for harvest itself.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Old French Book of Kings, about 1170, has al cumencement de meissuns “at the beginning of harvest”, translating Latin incipiente messione.^[2] The GLLF finds the word earlier in the Roman d'Eneas, for the harvested crop, and the Grand Robert dates meisson to 1160.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word had the Latin senses of reaping, the harvest season and the crop gathered.^[2][3] By the early 13th century it was also used figuratively, in the Reclus de Molliens and Gautier de Coinci, for a great quantity of things gathered.^[2][3] It was extended to crops other than cereals in 1845.^[3]

Bloch and Wartburg note that in the Gallo-Romance dialects moisson is the main word but has given way in places to août (in Norman), to métive in the west, and to derivatives of Latin secāre in the southwest.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – The Book of Kings has meissuns.^[2]
• Late 12th century – Raoul de Cambrai has moison.^[2][7]
• c. 1223 – Gautier de Coinci uses it for the crop.^[2]
• c. 1225 – The form messon and the figurative sense appear.^[3][2]
• 16th century – Ronsard writes of une moisson de fleurs.^[7][6]
• 1845 – Used of crops other than cereals.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The harvest of cereals, especially wheat: the work of reaping them when ripe.^[9][10][1]
2. The crop that is or will be harvested.^[9][1]
3. The harvest season.^[9][10][1]
4. (figurative) A large amount gathered, a rich haul: une moisson de souvenirs.^[9][1]

Word family

• moissonner
• moissonneur
• moissonneuse
• moissonnage

Related words

• métive
• messidor
• Latin messis

Usage notes

Littré records mettre la faucille dans la moisson d'autrui, to encroach on someone else's field of work.^[7]

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/2, 48a
6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert