Etymology and origin of the French word plancher
plancher1 floor
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- c. 1150 Roman de Thèbes
- Ultimate origin
- Late Latin planca
Etymology tree of plancher1
From the same root · plancher1
Pronunciation
- /plɑ̃.ʃe/[1]
Forms
plancher m (plural planchers)[1] Old French planchier, with the suffix reduced to -er by about 1160.[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman spellings include plauncher and plancié.[5]
Etymology
The word for the floor is formed from French planche + -ier, the suffix being reduced later.[6][2][7] The noun is from Late Latin planca (“plank”), which Bloch and Wartburg explain as a form of Vulgar Latin *palanca with the two /a/ dissimilated, helped by Latin plānus (“flat”).[7] The FEW files the family under phalanx.[8][5] Compare Walloon planchî and Occitan plancat.[9]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is first found about 1150 in the Roman de Thèbes, for the floor of a room made of roughly assembled wood.[6][2] Benoît de Sainte-Maure has Sus le plancher se jut adenz “he lay face down on the floor”.[9]
Semantic evolution
By metonymy it meant a storey of a house (about 1165) and the structure forming a floor between two storeys (about 1170).[6][2] It also named the underside of that structure, the ceiling (1442), especially in the 16th and 17th centuries; this sense now belongs to plafond.[6][2][7] The idea of a rough assembly of boards still sets plancher apart from parquet.[2] The sense “storey”, lost in France, lives on in Quebec as a calque of English floor.[2]
The familiar plancher des vaches, solid ground as opposed to the sea, is in Rabelais (1548), after plancher aux vaches (1529).[6][2] In the 19th and 20th centuries it was extended to the lower wall of a cavity in anatomy (1812) and geology (1886), and to the floor of a vehicle (1891), whence rouler au plancher (1956) and le pied au plancher (1965), with the accelerator pressed down fully.[6][2] Débarrasser le plancher “to clear off” is dated 1867 by the DHLF and found as early as 1843 by the BHVF.[2][10] In economics it has meant a lower limit since 1958, also used in apposition, as in prix plancher (1963).[6][2]
The Anglo-Norman word passed into Middle English as plauncher.[5]
Timeline
- About 1150 – First record, in the Roman de Thèbes, for the floor of a room.[6]
- About 1165 – Used for a storey, in the Roman de Troie.[6]
- About 1170 – Used for the structure between two storeys, in the Livre des Rois.[6]
- 1442 – The Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris uses it for the ceiling.[6]
- 1548 – Rabelais has plancher des vaches.[6][2]
- 1812 – First anatomical use.[6]
- 1891 – Used for the floor of a vehicle.[6]
- 1958 – Used in economics for a minimum level.[6][2]
Meanings
Noun
- A floor: the structure forming a horizontal platform on the ground floor or separating two storeys of a building.[4][6][11]
- The floor surface of a room, made of boards, rougher than a parquet.[4][11][2]
- The floor of a vehicle or a lift: le pied au plancher, with the accelerator pressed down fully.[11][2][1]
- (familiar) Débarrasser le plancher: to leave, to be thrown out.[11][2]
- (familiar) Le plancher des vaches: dry land.[2]
- (anatomy, geology) The lower wall of a cavity.[6][1]
- A lower limit, a minimum for a quantity or a price: prix plancher.[6][1]
- (obsolete) The ceiling.[4][7]
- (Quebec) A storey.[2]
plancher2 work at the blackboard
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 1905 Esnault
- Ultimate origin
- Late Latin planca
Etymology tree of plancher2
From the same root · plancher2
Pronunciation
- /plɑ̃.ʃe/[1]
Forms
plancher[1]
Etymology
The word for working at the blackboard is formed from French planche + -er, the noun being taken in its school-slang sense “blackboard”.[3][4][2][12][1] Wiktionary compares bûcher.[1]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is recorded in school slang in 1905, according to Esnault, for being examined or questioned by a teacher.[3][12][2][13]
Semantic evolution
From pupils being questioned at the blackboard, the verb came to mean doing a written or oral test (1905), and, familiarly, giving an oral presentation on a question (1955).[4][12] It is now also used for working hard on a subject.[4][14][1]
Timeline
- 1905 – Recorded in school slang for undergoing an examination.[3][12][2]
- 1955 – Used familiarly for giving an oral presentation.[12]
Meanings
Verb
Related words
Usage notes
The blocks follow the Grand Robert's numbering, plancher 1 “floor” and plancher 2 “to work at the blackboard”.[3] The DHLF also records a verb plancher “to windsurf” (1978), from planche in the sense of the sailboard.[2] Littré has a separate technical verb plancher, to grind shears along their length.[9]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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
- ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 353a
- ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
- ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
- ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ Bob, dictionnaire d'argot, de français familier et populaire, languefrancaise.net/Bob
- ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Plancher.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/plancher. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.
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