mouture

Forms

mouture f (plural moutures)^[1] Old French molture, muiture, mousture and multure.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French molture, inherited from Vulgar Latin *molitūra (“grain brought to the mill, the miller's fee”), from Latin molō (“to grind”).^[2][4][5][6] The Latin form is reconstructed from its outcomes in Italian dialects, Gallo-Romance, Rhaeto-Romance and Ibero-Romance, and it is also found in Medieval Latin as molitūra.^[2][7] The GLLF traces it to the supine molitum of the verb.^[8]

Cognate with Old Occitan moldura, Spanish moledura and Spanish moltura.^[9][10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1240, in a register from Tournai, it is the fee paid to the miller.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense “miller's fee” gave the phrase tirer d'un sac deux moutures “to make a double profit from one thing” (1542, Rabelais), and in feudal law the word also named the tax levied by the lord who owned the mill; both senses are now dated.^[4][2] From 1254 it meant the grinding of grain, and blé de mouture (1339) was a mixture of wheat, rye and barley in equal parts.^[2][4]

The figurative sense “a new version of a subject already treated” is recorded by the Académie in 1935 (seconde mouture), often with a disparaging tone,^[2][4] and première mouture “first draft” from the early 20th century.^[8] English has the related multure, the Anglo-Norman molture, for the toll on corn ground at a mill.^[3]

Timeline

• 1240 – First recorded, meaning “the miller's fee”.^[2]
• 1254 – Molture “the grinding of grain”.^[2][4]
• 1339 – Blé de muiture, a mixture of wheat, rye and barley.^[2]
• 1542 – Rabelais has tirer d'un sac deux moustures “to profit twice over”.^[2][4]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “the product of grinding”.^[8]
• 1935 – The Académie records seconde mouture “a reworked version”.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The grinding of cereal grain, especially wheat, between millstones or rollers, mouture haute, mouture basse.^[11][2]
2. (by extension) The grinding of coffee.^[11]
3. The product of grinding, meal, also a mixture of wheat, rye and barley.^[11][8]
4. (figurative) A new version of something already treated, often disparaging, première mouture being a first draft: Voici la deuxième mouture de son rapport.^[11][2]
5. (dated) The fee paid to the miller.^[4][1]

Related words

• moudre
• meunier
• Latin molō

Usage notes

The phrase tirer d'un sac deux moutures “to make a double profit” goes back to the miller's fee.^[4][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3, 43a
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
10. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert