podium

Forms

podium m (plural podiums or podia)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin podium (“parapet, raised platform around the arena”), first in 1545 as an architectural term.^[2][3] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek πόδιον (pódion, “little foot”), a diminutive of πούς (poús, “foot”).^[2][3][4] Rey adds that the Greek word is related to Latin pēs (“foot”), the source of pied.^[3] Wiktionary gives the inherited puy as its doublet.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in 1545, in a French translation of Serlio's rules of architecture after Vitruvius, for the plinth or step that carries a row of columns (a stylobate).^[2][3] This use was isolated; the word was taken up again in 1765 in the Encyclopédie.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Taken up again in 1765, it named both the architectural base and, in writing on Roman antiquity, the thick wall around the arena of an amphitheatre whose top carried the seats of the senators and magistrates, the sense of the Latin word.^[2][3][5]

The modern sense of a small raised platform dates from about 1910 and spread above all in sport,^[2][3][6] where monter sur le podium (1962) means to finish among the first three.^[3][2] Rey notes that purists object to the word for the stage of radio game shows, which every contestant climbs, winner or not.^[3]

Timeline

• 1545 – First used, in a translation of Serlio, for the step under a row of columns.^[2][3]
• 1765 – The Encyclopédie uses it again, in architecture and for the Roman amphitheatre.^[2][5]
• c. 1910 – It comes to mean a small raised platform, especially in sport.^[2][3][6]
• 1962 – Monter sur le podium is recorded.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A low raised platform or estrade; in particular the stepped stand on which the winners of a sporting event are placed: Les trois coureuses sont montées sur le podium.^[7][2]
2. Monter sur le podium: to finish among the first three, to win a place.^[3][7]
3. (Roman antiquity) The thick wall around the arena of an amphitheatre or circus, carrying the seats of honour.^[2][7][8]
4. (architecture) A plinth or base, such as the step carrying a row of columns.^[2][7]

Related words

• puy
• pied
• Latin podium

References

1. ^ a b c 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 i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
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 d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette