orle

Forms

orle m (plural orles)^[1] Old French urle, orle and ourle.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

In the senses “edge” and the heraldic sense it is a back-formation from Old French orler, the old form of ourler.^[2][3][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg trace the verb to Vulgar Latin *ōrulō, derived from Latin ōra (“edge, border”).^[6] The Grand Robert, the Petit Robert and Wiktionary instead take the noun straight from *ōrula, a diminutive of the same Latin noun.^[7][4][1]

The architectural sense, recorded from 1645, was taken from Italian orlo (“edge”), itself a back-formation from orlare (“to hem”) and used in architecture before 1555.^[2][5][6] The Grand Robert sees the influence of the Italian word on the whole French word.^[7]

Compare Spanish orla and Portuguese orla.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Oxford Psalter, in the first half of the 12th century, has urle for the edge of a garment: l'urle de son vestement.^[2][8] About 1160 the Roman d'Eneas uses orle for the rim of a shield.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the general sense “edge, hem” the word gave way to its own derivative ourlet, but it survived in specialized uses.^[5] In heraldry ourle is found about 1280 in Adenet le Roi, and a 15th-century text describes a coat of arms à ung orle de roses de gueulles.^[2][8] Sailors used it for the hem of a sail from 1732, and architects, following Italian, for the fillet under the ovolo of a Doric capital from 1645.^[2][5]

In literary French it can still mean a rim or edge, as in Heredia's orle de la gueule of an extinct volcano (1893).^[2][3] The English heraldic word orle is the same word, through Anglo-Norman.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – Urle “edge of a garment” in the Oxford Psalter.^[2][3]
• c. 1160 – Orle “rim of a shield” in the Roman d'Eneas.^[2]
• c. 1280 – Adenet le Roi uses ourle in heraldry.^[2][5]
• 1645 – Le Muet's translation of Palladio uses it in architecture, after Italian orlo.^[2]
• 1732 – Richelet records the sailors' sense “hem of a sail”.^[2][3]
• 1893 – Heredia uses it for the rim of a volcano's crater.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic, literary) An edge, rim or hem.^[2][3]
2. (nautical) The hem round a sail.^[3][4]
3. (architecture) A fillet under the ovolo of a Doric capital.^[2][4]
4. (heraldry) An orle, a narrow band following the outline of the shield without touching its edges.^[2][4][1]

Related words

• ourler
• ourlet
• orée
• Latin ōra

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)