omelette

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɔm.lɛt/^[1]

Forms

omelette f (plural omelettes)^[1] Homelaicte (Rabelais, 1548), omelette (1561), aumelette (1652); popular œufmelette (Héroard, 1607).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle French amelette (1480), altered, probably in the south, under the influence of words from Latin ōvum (“egg”).^[2][3][5][6] Amelette comes by metathesis from a form “alemette”, a variant of alumette,^[2][3][5] itself from Old French alumelle with a change of suffix.^[2][5] Alumelle is lemelle (“thin blade”), the older form of lamelle, with the a of the article la attached to it,^[2][3][7][8] and goes back to Latin lāmella (“thin metal plate”).^[1][9] The flat omelette was compared to a blade.^[2][5][10] The change from a to o may have come through spellings with “au-”.^[3]

The popular explanation as “œufs mêlés”, mixed eggs, is old but wrong.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Ménagier de Paris (late 14th century) gives recipes for alumelle and alumete of eggs;^[2][7][11] Rabelais writes homelaicte in 1548.^[2][11]

Semantic evolution

Amelette was still used in Paris in the 17th century, and Furetière records it beside omelette.^[5][3] The word spread through the dialects in varied forms, among them amolette, crossed with mou “soft”.^[3][5]

Phrases include omelette baveuse “runny omelette” (Scarron, 1648) and the proverb on ne fait pas d'omelette sans casser des œufs “you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs” (1868, in Littré's form on ne saurait faire une omelette…).^[7][11] The omelette norvégienne is baked Alaska.^[8]

Timeline

• late 14th century – Alumelle, alumete in the Ménagier de Paris.^[2][11]
• 1480 – Amelette in Tours.^[2][3]
• 1548 – Rabelais's homelaicte.^[2]
• 1561 – Omelette.^[2][3]
• 1648 – Omelette baveuse.^[7]
• 1868 – The proverb about breaking eggs.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. An omelette, beaten eggs cooked in a pan: omelette aux champignons.^[8][12]
2. Omelette norvégienne: baked Alaska.^[8]

Related words

• lamelle
• lame
• English omelette

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 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. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
5. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
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 c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 136a
10. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
11. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
12. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)