orme

Forms

orme m (plural ormes)^[1] Old French olme (from the late 11th century to 1604), also oulme, oume.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French olme, inherited from Latin ulmus (“elm”), with /l/ changed to /r/.^[2][5][3][6] The TLFi, Bloch and Wartburg and the REW put the ⟨r⟩ down to the derivative ormeau, from Old French ormel, earlier *olmel; the TLFi notes that the derivative is recorded later, and Rey thinks it only strengthened a change it could not have caused.^[2][3][7][5] A dissimilation of the /l/ after the article had fused with the noun is hard to accept on phonetic grounds.^[2][5]

Cognate with Italian olmo, Spanish olmo, Old Occitan olme and Romanian ulm.^[7][5] Rey compares Old Norse almr and notes that the Latin word passed into Old High German as ulmboum, whence German Ulme.^[5] Wiktionary traces the Latin word to Proto-Indo-European *h₁élem (“mountain elm”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1165 in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie, naming the elm tree;^[2][5] olme is older, in Rashi's glosses at the end of the 11th century.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Village judges held court under the elm planted before the manor or on the square, and the tree gave phrases about them: festes dessous l'orme in the mid-14th century, avocat dessouz l'orme in Maistre Pierre Pathelin (about 1464), and judges soubz l'orme in Rabelais (1552).^[5][8][3] From this comes attendre sous l'orme “to wait in vain for someone” (1690, Furetière), popularised by Regnard's comedy Attendez-moi sous l'orme (1694).^[2][5][3] Littré records an older sense of the phrase, “to be confident in one's case”.^[9]

The word also names the wood of the tree, as in Hugo (1866).^[8]

Timeline

• late 11th century – Olme appears in Rashi's glosses.^[2][5]
• c. 1165 – Orme in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie.^[2]
• 1202 – The derivative ormel (now ormeau) is recorded.^[5]
• c. 1464 – Avocat dessouz l'orme in Maistre Pierre Pathelin.^[8][5]
• 1604 – Last record of olme.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records attendre sous l'orme.^[2][5]
• 1694 – Regnard's comedy Attendez-moi sous l'orme.^[2][3]
• 1750 – The derivative ormille appears.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. An elm, a tall tree of the Ulmaceae with toothed leaves.^[10][2][1]
2. The wood of this tree.^[10][8]
3. (dated) Attendez-moi sous l'orme: said when one gives a meeting one does not mean to keep.^[10][9]

Word family

• ormeau
• ormaie
• ormille

Related words

• Latin ulmus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 5a
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert