palisser

Forms

palisser (transitive, first group)^[1] Middle French pallicier (1417) and palicé (late 15th century).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French palis + -er.^[2][4][3] The noun is formed on Old French pel, the old form of pieu, from Latin pālus (“stake”).^[2][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1417, in the consular registers of Lyon, meaning “to furnish with stakes”, of streets by the river.^[2][3] La Marche describes a pavilion palicé à barres in the late 15th century.^[2][7][8]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was to fence or protect with stakes.^[2][4] In the 16th century it was used in fortification, of a camp fenced with stakes (1542), and reflexively for surrounding oneself with defensive palisades (1558);^[2] Cotgrave glosses it “to inclose with pales”.^[9] The horticultural sense, to train and tie the branches of a fruit tree against a wall or trellis, appears in 1676 in Le Gendre's treatise on fruit trees,^[2][10] or in 1680 in Richelet according to the Grand Robert and the Grand Larousse.^[4][3] Furetière recorded a heraldic use in 1690.^[2] In gardening it competes with palissader, and it has given the noun palissage (1690).^[10]

Timeline

• 1417 – Pallicier “to furnish with stakes” in the consular registers of Lyon.^[2][10]
• c. 1470 – La Marche writes of a pavilion palicé.^[7][2]
• 1542 – Used in fortification of a fenced camp.^[2]
• 1611 – Cotgrave glosses it “to impale, to inclose with pales”.^[9]
• 1676 – First used in fruit-growing.^[2][10]
• 1690 – The derivative palissage is recorded, as is a heraldic sense.^[10][2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (horticulture) To train the branches of a fruit tree, shrub or vine by spreading and tying them against a wall, treillage or other support: palisser un poirier.^[11][2][12]
2. (obsolete) To fence or protect with stakes.^[4][3]

Word family

• palissage

Related words

• palis
• palissade
• palissader
• pieu
• espalier
• Latin pālus

References

1. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 526b
7. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Cotgrave, Randle (1611), A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: Adam Islip
10. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)