Etymologically
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papier

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /pa.pje/[1]

Forms

papier m (plural papiers)[1] Early forms include paupier (Troyes, 1355) and pauppier (Lorraine, 1451).[2]

Etymology

It came in through Italian trade as borrowed from Medieval Latin paperium, the Medieval Latin of Italy, a form of Latin papȳrus (“papyrus; paper made from it”) with a changed suffix.[3][4][5] Rey derives it instead from a popular Latin “*papilus”, an altered form of “papȳrus”, Wiktionary gives Old Catalan paper as the source, while Meyer-Lübke has the Catalan word come from French.[6][1][7][8] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek πάπυρος (pápuros, “Egyptian reed”), itself of Egyptian origin.[5][4]

Papyrus sheets were exported from Egypt to western Europe until about the end of the 8th century, when parchment took over; rag paper, invented in China, was made by the Arabs after the capture of Samarkand (751), brought by them into Spain and then northern Italy, where Medieval Latin “papirus” is found at Genoa in 1163, and it received the old name of papyrus.[6][4][5] Latin also called the papyrus sheet charta, the source of carte.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in a document from Douai of the late 13th or early 14th century, Queval qui porte papiers (“a horse carrying paper”), and a paper mill (moulin à paupier) is recorded at Troyes in 1355.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Paper mills were working in eastern France by the mid-14th century.[6] From 1308 the word also meant a written register, then any written document, papiers are a person's documents.[2][1] In the 16th and 17th centuries it entered many phrases: papier peint (1593), papier timbré (Madame de Sévigné, 1675), papier réglé (1680) and papier de musique (1690); papier mâché appears at the end of the 17th century, papier verré, later papier de verre, in 1760, and papier hygiénique in 1901.[6][2]

En papier “on paper, in theory” is found in 1587, and être bien (ou mal) dans les papiers de quelqu'un in the Académie's dictionary of 1798.[2] Papier-monnaie (1727), coined during John Law's speculations, is a calque of English paper money.[4] In Quebec sandpaper is papier sablé, after English.[6]

Timeline

  • late 13th–early 14th century – Papiers at Douai.[2]
  • 1308 – A register for letters.[2]
  • 1355 – Moulin à paupier at Troyes.[2]
  • 1414 – The derivative papetier.[4]
  • 1593 – Papier peint.[6]
  • 1675 – Papier timbré in Madame de Sévigné.[2]
  • 1727 – Papier-monnaie.[4]
  • 1760 – Papier verré.[2]
  • 1901 – Papier hygiénique.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. paper: une feuille de papier, pâte à papier.[3][9]
  2. A piece of paper; a written document: des papiers importants.[2][1]
  3. (plural) Identity papers; paperwork.[1]
  4. An article in a newspaper.[1]
  5. Papier peint: wallpaper, papier de verre: sandpaper, papier hygiénique: toilet paper.[6]
  6. Sur le papier: on paper, in theory.[2][1]
  7. Être dans les petits papiers de quelqu'un: to be in someone's good books.[2]
  8. Papier mâché: papier mâché, (figurative) une mine de papier mâché, a sickly complexion.[2]

Word family

  • paperasse
  • papetier
  • papeterie
  • papier-monnaie
  • sans-papiers

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 590a
  9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)