noue

noue¹ marshy pasture

Pronunciation

• /nu/^[1]

Forms

noue f (plural noues)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the marshy pasture is inherited from Old French noe, inherited from Gaulish *nauda (“marshy ground”), which is found in Medieval Latin as nauda at Blois in the 9th century.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} It is mainly a word of the west and centre of France from Old French on.^[2][3] Littré took it to be the same as the Old French word for swimming, from Latin natō (“to swim”).^[7] The later dictionaries follow the Gaulish etymology.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In a charter of 1294 from Beaugerais (Indre-et-Loire), noe is rich, damp land used as pasture.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word has stayed regional, at home around Blois and in Poitou.^[3] The form noue is found in Poitou in 1333.^[2] By analogy farmers used it from 1809 for the furrow between two ridges where rainwater lies.^[2][3] It also names a side arm of a river that stays open to it downstream, and ground that floods from time to time.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 9th century – Medieval Latin nauda at Blois.^[2][3]
• 1294 – Noe “damp pasture land” in a charter.^[2]
• 1333 – Noue in Poitou.^[2]
• 1809 – The farming sense “furrow between ridges”.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional) Rich, damp, marshy land used as pasture, ground that floods from time to time.^[2][8][5]
2. A side arm of a river, natural or dug, that stays open to it downstream.^[2]
3. (agriculture) The furrow between two ridges, where rainwater collects.^[2][5]

noue² roof valley

Pronunciation

• /nu/^[1]

Forms

noue f (plural noues)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the roof valley is inherited from Old French nohe, also noe, inherited from Late Latin *nauca, a contracted form of *nāvica (“small boat”), a diminutive of Latin nāvis (“ship”).^[2][3][4][9] It is therefore related to nef.^[3][8] Littré derived it from Late Latin noccus, which he took to be of Germanic origin.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In a document of 1223 from the Tournai area, nohe is a gutter.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the general sense “gutter” the word came to name the gutter where two sloping roofs meet (1379) and a hollow tile forming a channel for rainwater (1287).^[3][2] By analogy it then named the re-entrant angle where two roofs meet and the timber that supports their junction (1676, Félibien), and in public works a triangular piece of paving at a re-entrant angle (1868).^[2][3] The spelling noue dates from the 17th century.^[3]

Timeline

• 1223 – Nohe “gutter”, in a document from the Tournai area.^[2]
• 1287 – Noe “hollow tile forming a channel”.^[2][3]
• 1379 – Noe “gutter where two sloping roofs meet”.^[2][3]
• 1676 – Félibien uses noue for the timber at the junction of two roofs.^[2]
• 1762 – Recorded by the Académie.^[2]
• 1868 – The public works sense, in Littré.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (carpentry) The re-entrant angle where two roofs meet, a roof valley, also the timber that supports their junction.^[2][8]
2. (roofing) The channel along this angle, made of hollow tiles or sheets of zinc, copper or lead, which carries off rainwater, or one of these tiles or sheets.^[2][8]
3. (public works) A triangular piece of paving at a re-entrant angle, with a gutter in the middle.^[2]

Word family

• nouette