parasol

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pa.ʁa.sɔl/^[1]

Forms

parasol m (plural parasols)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian parasole, recorded from the 14th century,^[2][3][4][1] literally “what keeps off the sun”, from para-, from parare (“to ward off”), and sole (“sun”).^{[2][3][5][6][7]} The first French forms came through the ports of southern France, as the plural “parassous” (for “parasson”) of 1540 shows beside Genoese Ligurian parasõ.^[2][3] French formations such as parapluie and parachute followed its model.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record (1540) is in the inventory of a galley, for an awning over the poop that shaded the officers from the sun.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

A Bordeaux chronicle notes that in 1580 people going into the country began to carry parasols against rain in winter and sun in summer, a custom from Italy.^[2][3] The large fixed parasol of cafés and beaches dates from the 19th and early 20th centuries.^[3][5] In African, Réunion and Mauritian French parasol is used where European French says parapluie.^[3]

From the shape come en parasol of trees (Chateaubriand, 1811) and the pin parasol “umbrella pine” (1835).^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1540 – A galley awning.^[2][3]
• 1548 – The date Bloch and Wartburg and the Robert give for the portable sunshade.^[4][8]
• 1580 – Parasols come into use in Bordeaux.^[2]
• 1811 – Pins en parasols.^[2]
• 1835 – Pin parasol.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A large sunshade fixed on a stand, as at a café table or on a beach.^[9][5]
2. (dated) A portable parasol or umbrella.^[9][2]
3. (Africa, Indian Ocean) An umbrella.^[3]
4. Pin parasol: the umbrella pine.^[2]

Related words

• parapluie
• parachute
• English parasol

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 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 c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 633b
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert