orteil

Forms

orteil m (plural orteils)^[1] Old French arteil (still recorded by Trévoux in 1771) beside orteil;^[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman also artel and ortel.^[2][3][4] The old plural orteux was used in Middle French until the 16th century and survives in dialects.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French orteil, an altered form of arteil, inherited from Latin articulus (“joint, knuckle, then finger”), a diminutive of artus (“joint”).^[2][5][3][6] The specialization to “toe” took place in Gallo-Romance, probably under the influence of a Gaulish word *ordiga, suggested by a Late Latin gloss for “toes” in the Kassel Glossary (8th century) and by the Old Irish phrase orddu lamae (“thumb”); the same word would explain the change of initial ⟨a⟩ to ⟨o⟩, an idea going back to Ascoli.^[2][3][6][7] Forms with ⟨ar-⟩, among them artoil, are still widespread in the Gallo-Romance dialects.^[6]

Cognate with Old Occitan artelh (“toe”), Catalan artell, Spanish artejo (“knuckle”) and Portuguese artelho (“ankle”); Italian artiglio (“claw”) was taken from Provençal.^[2][1][7] It is a doublet of the learned article.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The form artolz appears in the Roman d'Eneas about 1160 and orteil in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Chronique des ducs de Normandie about 1175, both meaning a toe.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The word has always named the toes; the largest is called gros orteil (1559).^[3][8] Furetière still considered orteil the popular pronunciation of arteil, although the form is as old as the language.^[9] It competes with the everyday phrase doigt de pied, but has remained in use.^[3] Littré also records two technical senses: in fortification, the strip of ground left between the foot of a rampart and the scarp of the ditch, and orteil de mer, a kind of alcyonarian.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1160 – Artolz appears in the Roman d'Eneas.^[2]
• c. 1175 – Orteil appears in the Chronique des ducs de Normandie.^[2][3]
• 1559 – Amyot uses it for the big toe;^[8][3] gros orteil is recorded.^[8][3]
• 16th century – The plural orteux goes out of standard use.^[1]
• 1771 – Trévoux still records arteil.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A toe, each of the five digits of the foot.^[10][11]
2. Le gros orteil, or simply l'orteil: the big toe.^[10][8]

Related words

• article
• Latin articulus

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 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. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 376b
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 Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d e 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)