pli

Forms

pli m (plural plis)^[1] Old French plei (about 1130), ploi and pli (early 13th century), Middle French ply (1393).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from French plier, the verb that is also ployer.^[2][1][4] The Old French noun was ploi, made from the verb ploier, and the modern form was remade after the verb in ⟨-ier⟩.^[3][5] Littré likewise treats the old and the new form as one word pronounced in two ways.^[6]

Both verbs go back to Old French pleier, from Latin plicō (“to fold”).^[7][5] The verb in ⟨-ier⟩ is an analogical variant of the one in ⟨-oyer⟩, formed from the 12th century on the model of verbs such as nier and prier, which had a stressed stem in ⟨-ie-⟩ beside an unstressed one in ⟨-ei-⟩ or ⟨-oi-⟩.^[5][7] Littré compares Walloon pleu, Occitan pleg, Spanish pliego and Italian piego.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as plei about 1130 in Gormont et Isembart, for a movable, jointed part of a suit of armour.^[2] A 12th-century line quoted by Littré speaks of les deus plois de l'aubert, “the two folds of the hauberk”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The common sense, a part of a flexible material turned back on itself to make a double thickness, appears in 1197 in Hélinant's Vers de la mort, in a figurative phrase, and the spelling pli in the early 13th century.^[2] Through the Middle Ages the word also named a fold of the skin (1266), a piece of folded paper serving as an envelope (late 13th century) and the flap of a garment (Villon, 1461).^[2] An abstract use grew beside it: mettre en ploi “to set to work, to prepare” (about 1185), a state or disposition of mind (early 13th century), and prendre un ploy “to take up a habit” in Alain Chartier (about 1424).^[2]

Robert Estienne records the mark left by folding in 1549.^[2][3] Furetière in 1690 has faux pli, a crease where there should be none, and cela ne fait pas un pli, and the dressmaking term pli couché.^[2][3] Later uses are the ripple of a flowing cloth (1684), an undulation of the ground (1824), a geological fold (1848) and, by 1807, a trick in card games.^[2] The sense “letter, message” is recorded by Larousse in 1874.^[2] Mise en plis, a hair set, is in Larousse's 1932 dictionary.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1130 – Plei names a jointed part of armour in Gormont et Isembart.^[2]
• c. 1185 – Mettre en ploi “to prepare, to set to work”.^[2]
• 1197 – Hélinant uses it of a fold of flexible material.^[2]
• early 13th century – The form pli appears, in Raoul de Houdenc.^[2]
• c. 1424 – Alain Chartier has prendre un ploy “to take up a habit”.^[2]
• 1549 – Robert Estienne records the mark left by a fold.^[2][3]
• 1690 – Furetière gives faux pli and cela ne fait pas un pli.^[2][3]
• 1807 – First record of the sense “trick” at cards.^[2]
• 1848 – Used in geology.^[2]
• 1874 – Larousse records the sense “letter, message”.^[2]
• 1932 – Mise en plis appears in Larousse.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fold: a part of a flexible material (cloth, paper) turned back on itself to form a double thickness.^[9][2]
2. A pleat in a garment, as in pli plat, pli creux and pli couché.^[9][1]
3. A crease, the mark left by folding;^[2][9] faux pli, a crease where there should be none.^[2][9]
4. A fold or wrinkle of the skin.^[2]
5. An envelope, and a letter or message sent in one.^[2][1]
6. A habit: prendre le pli, to get into the habit.^[1][2]
7. (card games) A trick.^[1][2]
8. (geology) A fold in rock strata.^[2]
9. Cela ne fait pas un pli: there is no difficulty about it.^[6][2]

Word family

• plisser

Related words

• plier
• ployer
• repli
• pliure
• Latin plicō

Usage notes

The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert list a separate technical word pli (1950), from the English word ply (“layer”): one of the very thin sheets of wood that are glued together to make contreplaqué.^[4][9] Littré notes that in some provinces pli was used for a trick at cards.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 u v w x y z 27 28 29 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert