pierreux

Forms

pierreux (feminine pierreuse, masculine plural pierreux, feminine plural pierreuses)^[1] Old French pereus (about 1175), pierous (about 1190) and piereus (about 1225); the spelling pierreux is found in 1530.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pereus (“containing stones”), inherited from Latin petrōsus (“stony, rocky”), from petra (“rock, stone”), remade after pierre.^[2][5][6][3] The learned pétreux is a later borrowing of the same Latin word.^[1]

Cognate with Italian petroso and Spanish pedroso.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the feminine pierouse “containing stones” in the Sermons of Saint Bernard at the end of the 12th century.^[2][3] The older form pereus had the same sense about 1175 in Thomas of Kent's Roman de toute chevalerie.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Besides a place full of stones, the adjective came to describe what is of the nature of stone (1537), and fruit, such as some pears, with hard gritty grains in the flesh (1530).^[2][3] In the 16th century Amyot wrote of a cholique pierreuse, a colic from stone in the bladder;^[7] Littré still records this medical use.^[7]

In 1807 police slang made the feminine pierreuse a noun for a prostitute who worked among the building materials of houses under construction, notably at the Louvre in 1802.^[2][8] The sense is now dated.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – The older form pereus appears in Thomas of Kent.^[2]
• Late 12th century – Pierouse in the Sermons of Saint Bernard.^[2]
• c. 1225 – Piereus in Barlaam et Josaphat.^[4][3][7]
• 1530 – Palsgrave has the spelling pierreux; a translation of Crescenzi uses it of fruit.^[3][4]
• 1537 – First used for what is of the nature of stone.^[2][5]
• 1807 – Pierreuse “streetwalker” in police slang.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Full of or covered with stones; stony: un sentier pierreux.^[8][2][3]
2. Of the nature of stone, like stone: concrétion pierreuse.^[8][2]
3. Of fruit: containing hard, gritty grains: une poire pierreuse.^[3][8]

Noun

1. Pierreuse (feminine, dated): a streetwalking prostitute.^[8][2]

Related words

• pierre
• pétreux
• Latin petrōsus

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert