pertuisane

Forms

pertuisane f (plural pertuisanes)^[1] Middle French partrizienne (1466), partizaine and pertizenne (1468), pertizanne (1473), pertuisegne (1474), pertusane (1511).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian partigiana (“halberd”), properly “partisan's weapon”, the feminine of partigiano (“partisan”) used as a noun.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The early forms would normally have given ⟨partisane⟩; they were changed step by step under the influence of pertuis “hole”,^[2][3][4] perhaps because the weapon is used to pierce.^[3] The Italian word is first recorded before 1470, in Luigi Pulci.^[2]

Littré doubted that partisan in its military sense was as old as the weapon's name and thought of Old High German bart (“axe”), but he could not explain the form.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as partrizienne in 1466, in the archives of the Nord, for an infantry polearm.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The form pertuisane is found in 1528, in a French translation of a letter of Paolo Giovio;^[2][3] the Grand Robert and the GLLF date it to 1564 (Thierry).^[8][5] The weapon, close to the hallebarde, was used by the infantry and the guards from the 15th to the 17th century, and later only for show.^[2][3][5]

A soldier armed with one was a pertuisanier, first written pertesanier and recorded as pertuisanier by Richelet in 1680.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1466 – Partrizienne in the archives of the Nord.^[2][3]
• 1468 – Partizaine and pertizenne.^[2][3]
• Before 1470 – Italian partigiana “halberd” in Pulci.^[2][3]
• 1474 – Pertuisegne.^[2]
• 1528 – The form pertuisane.^[2][3]
• 1680 – Richelet records pertuisanier.^[2][3]
• 1694 – The Académie records pertuisanier.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history) A partisan, a polearm close to the halberd, with a long shaft and a long triangular iron head, often with two symmetrical lugs at its base, used from the 15th to the 17th century and later as a ceremonial weapon.^[2][9][5]

Word family

• pertuisanier

Related words

• partisan
• pertuis
• hallebarde

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 n o p 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 l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 672b
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert