mouette

Forms

mouette f (plural mouettes)^[1] Middle French moette (about 1300) and mouete (1422).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Old French mave + -ette, a diminutive of the Anglo-Norman name of the gull, also written mauve.^[2][3][4] The Petit Robert and the Grand Robert give the Old French base as maoue.^[5][6] Rey dates the base word to 1121–1134 and notes that it was still used in Upper Brittany in the 19th century.^[3]

The base was taken from Old English mǣw (“gull”), the ancestor of English mew.^[3][4][7] Rey calls it a Germanic word of the seaboard and compares Dutch meeuw and German Möwe;^[3] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Germanic *maiwaz (“seagull”).^[1] Bloch and Wartburg explain the borrowing by the bird's way of life: it lived almost only on the sea, so its name is first found in the speech of the coastal regions, such as old Norman.^[4] Littré cites the Old French form miawe from Marie de France and Picard mauve.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as moette in the songs of Jehannot de Lescurel, of the late 13th or early 14th century, naming the gull.^[2] In 1422 Alain Chartier's Quadrilogue invectif compares the voice of the people to les mouetes, qui par leur cry denoncent le flot de la mer (“the gulls, which by their cry announce the rising tide”).^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its meaning, the sea bird, and in everyday use it is applied loosely to other sea birds, such as the larger goélands.^[3] The Petit Robert defines it as a bird close to the goéland but smaller.^[5]

In the plural, by likeness of shape, it named a pair of wooden pincers for pulling up thistles (1835, also altered to moittes).^[3] In nautical language it is also an inflatable lifeboat.^[5]

Timeline

• 1121–1134 – The base word, Anglo-Norman mave, is first recorded.^[3]
• c. 1300 – Moette appears in the songs of Jehannot de Lescurel.^[2]
• 1422 – Alain Chartier writes mouete in the Quadrilogue invectif.^[2][8]
• 16th century – Rémy Belleau uses mouette in his Bergeries, where the bird returning to the sand foretells a high wind.^[8]
• 1835 – The plural names wooden pincers for pulling up thistles.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A gull, a web-footed sea bird of the family of the goélands, but smaller.^[5][2][9]
2. (nautical) An inflatable lifeboat.^[5]

Related words

• goéland
• Old English mǣw
• English mew

Usage notes

The Petit Robert lists mouette rieuse and mouette tridactyle among the named species.^[5] In everyday French the word is often used for other sea birds, including the goélands.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)