oreille

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɔ.ʁɛj/^[1]

Forms

oreille f (plural oreilles)^[1] Aurelia (late 10th century), oreille (Chanson de Roland), aureille, orille.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French oreille, inherited from Vulgar Latin oricla, inherited from Latin auricula (“ear; hearing”),^{[2][3][5][6][1][7]} a diminutive of auris (“ear”), which hardly survives in the Romance languages.^[3][5][8] “Auris” is of Indo-European origin, related to Ancient Greek οὖς (oûs), Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐍃𐍉 (auso) and German Ohr.^[3][8][4][1]

Cognate with Romanian ureche, Italian orecchio, Occitan aurelha, Catalan orella, Spanish oreja and Portuguese orelha.^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Passion of Clermont (late 10th century) has aurelia, the visible outer part of the organ of hearing;^[2][3] in the Chanson de Roland a knight cuts off an animal's right ear.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

By about 1145 oreille is the organ of hearing as a whole; anatomy distinguished oreille interne and externe (1690) and oreille moyenne (1814).^[2][3] After Latin auris it means attention given to a speaker, as in faire la sourde oreille (Wace, about 1155), a musical ear, avoir de l'oreille (1690), and trust, avoir l'oreille du prince (1559).^[2][3]

By likeness of shape it names the handle of a vessel (1247–1322), the tab of a shoe, the wing of an armchair, fauteuil à oreilles (1830), and the mouldboard of a plough.^[2][9][5] Many phrases use it: tirer les oreilles, dormir sur ses deux oreilles, les murs ont des oreilles.^[10][8] Derivatives include oreiller (12th century) and oreillons “mumps” (1640).^[5]

Timeline

• late 10th century – Aurelia (Passion of Clermont).^[2][3]
• c. 1100 – Oreille, of an animal (Roland).^[2]
• c. 1145 – The organ of hearing (Wace).^[2][3]
• c. 1155 – Attention^[2][3]; faire la sourde oreille.^[2][3]
• 1559 – L'oreille des grands princes, trust (Du Bellay).^[2]
• 1690 – Avoir de l'oreille^[2][3]; oreille interne (Furetière).^[2][3]
• 1814 – Oreille moyenne.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An ear, the organ of hearing; its outer part.^[8][1]
2. Hearing; a musical ear: avoir l'oreille fine, avoir de l'oreille.^[11][2]
3. Attention; trust: prêter l'oreille, avoir l'oreille de quelqu'un.^[2][8]
4. An ear-shaped part: the handle of a vessel; the wing of an armchair.^[11][2]

Word family

• oreillard
• oreiller
• oreillette
• oreillon
• essoriller
• perce-oreille

Related words

• ouïr
• auriculaire
• Latin auris
• English ear

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 989a
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)