mural

Forms

mural (feminine murale, masculine plural muraux, feminine plural murales)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin mūrālis (“of a wall”),^[2][3][4][5] the adjective of mūrus (“wall”), the source of mur.^[3][6][7] It first came in the phrase Middle French coronne murail, modelled on mūrālis corōna, the crown given to the soldier who first scaled the walls of a besieged town;^[2][3][4] Latin also had mūrālis herba for pellitory.^[2][3]

The noun, a painting on an outside wall, is recent: it is borrowed from English mural, the English word itself coming from Old French.^[3][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1355 in Pierre Bersuire's translation of Livy, in coronne murail, the Roman mural crown.^[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

After this Roman term (couronnes murales, 1547), the word entered botany in the 15th century, by a new learned borrowing, for plants that grow on walls; as a feminine noun, la murale named the pariétaire, as in Latin.^[2][3][5] It stayed rare before the 18th century.^[5][10]

In the 18th century sel mural named the salt that forms on old walls (Buffon, 1783–1788), and astronomy had the arc mural (1765), an instrument fixed to a wall.^[2][3][6]

The common sense “placed on or fixed to a wall” dates only from the 19th century, with carte murale (Bescherelle, 1845);^[2][3][7] it gave peinture murale and the furniture and clocks fixed to the wall.^[10][6] Recently the English noun mural was borrowed for a painting on an outside wall, an art form especially alive in Mexico, which gave muralisme and muraliste through Spanish.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1355 – Bersuire uses coronne murail.^[2][3]
• 15th century – Murale names the pellitory, a wall plant.^[2][3]
• 1547 – Couronnes murales is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1765 – The Encyclopédie has arc mural in astronomy.^[2][3]
• 1783–1788 – Buffon uses sel mural.^[2][3]
• 1845 – Bescherelle records carte murale, the modern sense “fixed to a wall”.^[2][3][7]
• 1963 – Muraliste is borrowed from Spanish.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (archaeology) Couronne murale: a crown shaped like a crenellated wall, given to the soldier who first scaled the walls of a besieged town, and shown on the arms and statues of towns.^[2][10][7]
2. (technical) Of walls; growing or living on walls: plante murale.^[10][6][9]
3. Placed on a wall as decoration, or fixed to a wall rather than standing on the floor: peinture murale, carte murale, pendule murale.^[10][2][9]

Noun

1. (anglicism) A painting on an outside wall, a mural.^[8][9][3]
2. In a shop, a display unit set against a wall.^[9]

Related words

• mur
• muraille
• muralisme
• muraliste
• Latin mūrus
• English mural

Usage notes

Anglo-Norman had a noun mural, muraille “walls, town walls”, recorded from the early 12th century.^[11] The masculine plural of the adjective is muraux.^[9][1]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)