pigeon

Forms

pigeon m (plural pigeons, feminine pigeonne)^[1] Old French pijon, later pigeon (about 1330).^[2][3] Anglo-Norman spellings include pejon, pigun and pijoun.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pijon, inherited from Late Latin pīpiō (“young pigeon, squab”), recorded from the 4th century and itself derived from expressive verbs of imitative origin meaning “to whimper” and “to cheep”.^[3][2][5][6] The French form goes back through an intermediate form in which the inner /p/ was dissimilated against the initial one, which Rey writes *pivionem.^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg say the consonant first became /b/, and note the same change in the dialects of northern Italy, while standard Italian kept a regular form.^[6]

Cognate with Italian piccione, Spanish pichón and Walloon pîvion.^[7] The English word pigeon was borrowed from Old French in the late 14th century.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In its first record, in the homilies of Maurice de Sully (early 13th century), pijon meant the young of a bird: deus pijons de colons “two young of doves”.^[3][2] The Grand Robert and the GLLF date this text to 1170.^[9][10]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant a nestling, especially a young pigeon, a sense still found at the end of the 13th century and in Middle French.^[3][2] It then pushed out the old word coulomb “dove, pigeon”, because young birds were the ones preferred at market;^[3][2][6] coulomb was called old-fashioned by Trévoux in 1704 and survives only in the dialects of the north-east, east and south-east of France and in Catalan.^[3][2][6] The sense “pigeon (the bird)” appears first in Anglo-Norman in the 13th century and on the Continent at the end of that century.^[2]

By a metaphor like that of dupe, pigeon came to mean an easily fooled person by the late 15th century, the sense behind pigeonner “to swindle”.^[3][2] The homing pigeon, pigeon voyageur, gained importance in 1870 and in 1914–1918, when trained birds carried messages.^[2] By likeness of shape the word was applied in crafts to a handful of mixed plaster (1694), a half-mesh starting a fishing net (1769), a lump of stone in lime (1841) and a small reinforcing piece in the corner of a frame (1842).^[3][2] The bird's plumage gave gorge de pigeon for a shimmering colour, and ailes de pigeon named a hairstyle and a dance figure (1798).^[2][3] Mon pigeon has been a term of affection since 1736, and pigeon vole is the name of a children's game (1828).^[2][3]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Pijon “young of a bird” appears in Maurice de Sully's homilies.^[3]
• 13th century – The sense “pigeon (the bird)” is found in Anglo-Norman.^[2]
• Late 13th century – Pijon names the bird in the Crieries de Paris.^[3]
• c. 1330 – The spelling pigeons appears in Nicole Bozon.^[3]
• Before 1488 – Pigon is used of a naive person who is easily duped.^[3]
• Late 14th century – English borrows the word as pijoun.^[8]
• 1530 – Palsgrave records the spelling pigeons.^[3]
• 1553 – The verb pigeonner is recorded.^[6]
• 1640 – Gorge de pigeon is used for a shimmering colour.^[2]
• 1694 – Thomas Corneille records the plasterer's sense.^[3]
• 1736 – Marivaux uses mon pigeon as a term of affection.^[3]
• 1828 – The game pigeon-vole is recorded.^[3][2]
• 1838 – Pigeon voyageur “homing pigeon” is first found, in Barbey d'Aurevilly.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pigeon, a bird of the dove family, wild or kept in a dovecote;^[11][3] un pigeon voyageur is a homing pigeon.^[11][3]
2. (familiar) A dupe, a naive person who is easily cheated: Il a été le pigeon de toute l'affaire.^[11][1][2]
3. Mon pigeon: a term of endearment.^[3][2]
4. (construction) A handful of mixed plaster that a plasterer lays without pressing it on.^[3][2]
5. Gorge-de-pigeon: a shimmering, iridescent colour.^[11][2]
6. Pigeon d'argile: a clay pigeon used as a shooting target.^[1]

Word family

• pigeonnant
• pigeonneau
• pigeonner
• pigeonnier

Related words

• piper
• pépier
• Latin pīpiō
• English pigeon

Usage notes

The feminine pigeonne is used for the female bird.^[11][1]

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 l m n o p q r s t Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x 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. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 556a
6. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert