paisson

Forms

paisson f (plural paissons)^[1] Old French passon (1261) and Anglo-Norman pesson, pessone.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pāstiō (“the raising of livestock, pasture”).^[2][1][4] The Latin noun is formed on the supine of pāscō (“to graze”).^[5][6] Littré compares Occitan paichio.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the first half of the 13th century in Guillaume de Palerne, in mener [ses bestes] en paisson, “to lead [one's beasts] to pasture”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From 1261 the word was used especially for the feeding of pigs in the woods: a document of that year speaks of le passon de lors pors, and one of 1265 of eighty pigs at the passon de glans, the acorn mast.^[2][7] In Anglo-Norman it meant pannage, the mast on which swine were fed.^[3] The general sense of fodder continued: the 14th-century Ménagier de Paris calls quail and pigeon a bad paisson for the sparrowhawk, and Olivier de Serres pairs paissons with glandée in the 16th century.^[6] Littré records paisson pleine for a year when acorns and beechnuts are plentiful.^[6]

Timeline

• 1200–1250 – Paisson “pasture” appears in Guillaume de Palerne.^[2]
• 1243 – It is found in a charter.^[2]
• 1261 – Passon is used for the feeding of pigs in a forest.^[2][7]
• 1265 – A charter speaks of pigs at the passon de glans.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) Whatever grazing animals feed on; pasture.^[5][6][2]
2. (forestry) The feeding of pigs in a forest on acorns and beechnuts, pannage, and the food they find there.^[2][5][1]

Related words

• paître
• pâture
• Latin pāstiō

Usage notes

The Treasury of the French Language, the GLLF and Littré make the word feminine; the Grand Robert gives it as masculine.^[2][5][6][8] A masculine homograph paisson is a glover's tool, a semicircular metal blade with a short handle used to stretch and open skins (Richelet, 1680); it goes back to Old French pesson, paisson “tent peg, stake” (about 1150), a derivative of Latin paxillus (“peg”), and has a separate source.^[2][8][5][9]

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 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 Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 757b
5. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 97b