oublie

Forms

oublie f (plural oublies)^[1] Old French oblede (late 11th century), oublee (about 1170) and obleie (about 1200); oublie from the late 14th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French oublee, altered under the influence of oublier and oubli.^[2][4][5] The Old French word is from Late Latin oblāta (“offering”) (understood hostia), the bread offered for the Eucharist,^[2][4][6] the feminine used as a noun of Latin oblātus (“offered”), the past participle of offerō, which in Church Latin had taken the sense “to offer to God”.^[2][4]

Littré compares Old Occitan oblia.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest form, oblede, is found in the glosses of Rashi at the end of the 11th century, for a light pastry.^[2][4][3] The sense “host” is recorded about 1200 as obleie in the Dialogues of Saint Gregory.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the altar bread the word passed to a pastry whose light dough was made like it;^[6][2] Bloch and Wartburg note that the sense “host” soon disappeared.^[6][2] The thin wafer rolled into a tube or cone (about 1360) was common until the end of the 19th century, especially in marchand d'oublies, the street seller's call.^[4][3] Both senses are now old-fashioned.^[4] By likeness of shape it named a rolled seashell in 1812.^[4][3]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – Oublee for a pastry in Floire et Blancheflor.^[3][2]
• c. 1200 – Obleie “host” in the Dialogues of Saint Gregory.^[2]
• c. 1360 – The form oublie appears in Froissart.^[3][4]
• 1669 – Main d'oublies is recorded.^[3]
• 1812 – It names a rolled seashell.^[4][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete) Unleavened altar bread, a host not yet consecrated.^[8][2][1]
2. (historical) A thin wafer rolled into a tube or cone, once sold in the streets: marchand d'oublies.^[8][9][10]
3. A seashell with rolled edges.^[4][3]

Related words

• oblat
• offrir
• Latin oblātus

Usage notes

The noun sounds the same as oubli and the forms of oublier.^[8][9] The derivative oublieur “seller of oublies” (about 1330) disappeared with the pastry.^[4]

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 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, 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. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)