Etymologically
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parc

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Pronunciation

Forms

parc m (plural parcs)[1] Anglo-Norman parc, parck, parke.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Medieval Latin parricus (“enclosure”), found in the 8th century in the Ripuarian law.[3][4][5][6] Rey and Bloch and Wartburg derive ⟨parricus⟩ from a pre-Latin *parra (“pole, stake”), kept in Spanish parra (“vine trellis”) and, with a voiced initial, in French barre.[4][5][7] The Grand Robert thinks the Latin word probably Germanic, and Wiktionary allows a borrowing from Frankish *parrik.[8][1] Rey rules out a Germanic origin because of the initial ⟨p-⟩ and the Latin suffix, and explains the late appearance of the word by the kind of property it names, unknown in ancient society.[4]

Its outcomes are found all over Gallo-Romance, in Lombard dialects and in Old Catalan.[4] The Germanic words Old High German pfarrih, German Pferch and Old English pearroc were borrowed from Gallo-Latin.[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Wace's Roman de Rou (1160–74) it is a large enclosed stretch of land and woods where game was kept and bred for hunting.[3][4] Such a park belonged to the king or a lord and was typical of the medieval castle.[4]

Semantic evolution

From about 1220 it also meant an enclosed orchard.[3][4] In 1664, of the small park of Versailles, it is defined as a large enclosed area of land and woods laid out for ornament, pleasure and walking; the first parks open to the public appeared in the 18th century and spread in the 19th.[3][4] The sense “protected natural area” came from American English: Parc national was used for Yellowstone in 1878, and parc for a high valley of the Rocky Mountains in 1881; the name was applied to France from 1902.[3][4] English park had itself been borrowed from French.[4]

The idea of an enclosure also gave a movable pen for cattle (about 1278), a ditched pasture for fattening oxen (1690) and beds for oysters and fish.[4][7] In the 14th and 15th centuries parc also meant an entrenched camp, a sense largely given up to camp about 1500; it kept some military uses.[5]

Timeline

  • 1160–74 – Wace uses parc for a hunting enclosure.[3]
  • c. 1220 – An enclosed orchard.[3]
  • c. 1278 – A pen for livestock.[4]
  • 1339 – The diminutive parquet “small enclosure”.[5]
  • 1664 – The park of a château, at Versailles.[3][7]
  • 1878 – Parc national, of Yellowstone.[3][4]
  • 1902 – Parc national applied to France.[4]
  • 1945 – Parcs municipaux in Gracq.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A large enclosed area of grounds and woods around a château or a large house.[9][10]
  2. A public park in a town: un parc municipal.[1][3]
  3. A protected natural area: parc national, parc naturel régional.[9][1]
  4. Parc d'attractions: an amusement park, parc zoologique: a zoo.[1][4]
  5. A light movable fold for sheep, and a pen for cattle.[9][3]
  6. A playpen for small children.[9][1]
  7. A bed where shellfish are raised: parc à huîtres, parc à moules.[9]
  8. An enclosed depot, especially for military stores: parc d'artillerie.[9][7]
  9. A car park: parc de stationnement.[9]
  10. The total stock or fleet of vehicles or machines of a kind: le parc automobile.[1][9]

Word family

  • parquer
  • parquet
  • parcage
  • barre
  • Medieval Latin parricus
  • English park

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e 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, 663b
  7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette