paroi

Forms

paroi f (plural parois)^[1] Old French pareit (about 1100), parei (about 1155, Wace) and paroi (about 1175, Chrétien de Troyes), Middle French parai (1314).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pareit, inherited from Vulgar Latin *parētem, an altered form of the accusative of Latin pariēs (“wall of a house, party wall”).^[3][5][4][6] The Latin noun was masculine, and Littré notes that the gender of the Old French word varied from dialect to dialect.^[7]

Cognate with Italian parete, Occitan paret, Spanish pared and Portuguese parede.^[7][8] The Latin word has no certain cognate elsewhere in Indo-European;^[4] Rey reports attempts to connect it with Lithuanian tverti (“to grasp, enclose”) or with Old Church Slavonic прѣти (prěti, “to lean on”), both disputed.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) pareit is a wall: Quand l'ot Marsiles, vers sa pareit se turne (“When Marsile heard it, he turned toward his wall”).^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the word meant a wall in general, and in particular the inner face of a wall or an internal partition of a house (about 1170, Livre des Rois).^[4][2] From 1314, in Henri de Mondeville's surgery, it was used in anatomy for the wall enclosing a cavity or a hollow organ.^[3][4]

Later extensions covered the side of a container (1762), the side of a natural or dug excavation (1809), a sheer rock face (1749) and, in veterinary use, the outer wall of a horse's hoof (1765).^[4][2] In the 20th century it was applied to the inner walls of a vehicle (1935).^[4] In the sense of an excavation's wall it is now felt to go with the adjective pariétal.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Pareit “wall” appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[3]
• c. 1170 – The Livre des Rois uses it for the inner face of a wall.^[2]
• c. 1175 – The form paroi is found in Chrétien de Troyes.^[2][4]
• 1314 – Henri de Mondeville uses parai in anatomy.^[3][4]
• 1749 – Buffon uses it for a steep rock face.^[2][4]
• 1762 – The Académie records the sense “side of a vessel”.^[2][4]
• 1809 – Chateaubriand uses it of the side of an excavation.^[2][4]
• 1935 – It is used of the inner wall of a vehicle.^[4][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A partition or wall inside a building, especially one not of masonry; the inner face of a wall.^[9][2]
2. The inner wall of a vehicle, such as a ship, aircraft or lift.^[9]
3. The side of a natural or dug excavation, such as a cave or trench.^[9][4]
4. A steep rock face, a cliff like a wall.^[9][1]
5. The side of a container or tube that separates the inside from the outside.^[4][7]
6. (anatomy, botany) The wall enclosing a cavity, a hollow organ or a fruit.^[3][2][1]

Related words

• pariétal
• pariétaire
• Latin pariēs

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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 q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 652a
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert