paon

Forms

paon m (plural paons, feminine paonne)^[1] Old French poün and poon, then paon from the 13th century.^[2][3][4] The feminine is paonne (1393), which replaced Old French paonnesse.^[2][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pāvō (“peacock”), continued through its accusative ⟨pāvōnem⟩.^[5][6][3][7] Old French also had paue, peue (1180–1190), formed on the Latin nominative, which the form ⟨poün⟩, later ⟨paon⟩, drove out.^[2][5]

The bird was brought from India, and Rey thinks that the Latin word, like Ancient Greek ταώς (taṓs), was probably taken from an Eastern language; its ⟨p⟩ is unexplained and may come from an imitation of the bird's cry.^[2] Ennius has an archaic form ⟨pavus⟩, which reappears in late and Church Latin.^[2]

Cognate with Italian pavone, Spanish pavón, Portuguese pavão, Catalan pagó, Old Occitan paon and Romanian păun.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1130 in Gormont et Isembart.^[5] About 1140 the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne lists peacocks as a dish: E unt gruës e gauntes et poüns empevrez “and they have cranes and geese and peppered peacocks”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The peacock spreading its tail became a symbol of conceit, and the word entered phrases about human behaviour: fier comme un paon (1578) and se parer des plumes du paon (1695), after La Fontaine's fable Le geai paré des plumes du paon (1668).^[2][5] In the Middle Ages the vœu du paon was a vow of arms taken at table over a roast peacock.^[8]

Like Latin pāvō, the word also named a fish with coloured spots on its sides (1611, Cotgrave) and a butterfly with eye-spots on its wings (1734).^[2][5][4] From the colour of its feathers it named a blue-green shade (1897), and bleu paon is found in 1899.^[5][2]

Timeline

• c. 1130 – First record, in Gormont et Isembart.^[5]
• c. 1140 – Poüns appear as a dish in the Pèlerinage de Charlemagne.^[5]
• c. 1265 – Brunetto Latini describes the bird in his Trésor; the spelling paon is found.^[5][2]
• 1373–1381 – The derivative paonneau “young peacock” is recorded.^[5][2]
• 1393 – The feminine paonne is recorded in the Ménagier de Paris.^[5]
• 1578 – First said of a proud person.^[5][2]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the name of a fish.^[5]
• 1668 – La Fontaine's fable Le geai paré des plumes du paon.^[5]
• 1734 – Réaumur uses it for a butterfly.^[4]
• 1899 – Bleu paon is recorded.^[5][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A peacock, a large bird of Asian origin whose male has brilliant plumage and a long tail of eye-spotted feathers that it spreads in a fan: le paon fait la roue.^[11][5]
2. (figurative) A vain, conceited person: fier comme un paon, se parer des plumes du paon (to take credit for what belongs to others).^[2][4]
3. A butterfly with eye-spots on its wings.^[2][4]
4. Bleu paon: a blue-green colour.^[5]

Word family

• paonneau
• paonner

Related words

• paonne
• ponceau
• Latin pāvō

Usage notes

The ⟨o⟩ is not pronounced;^[8] Littré gives the pronunciation “pan”.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s 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
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 83a
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
11. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert