poignée

Forms

poignée f (plural poignées)^[1] Old French puinnie (about 1170), poigniee (about 1175, Chrétien de Troyes) and puignie.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French poing + -ée,^[5][1] on the Old French form puing.^[3][6] The base word is from Latin pugnus (“fist”).^[7]

Littré compares Walloon pougneie, Picard puignie and Occitan ponhada.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, puinnie in the Livre des Rois (about 1170), is the quantity a closed hand can hold: Jo n'en ai si une puinnie nun de farine “I have nothing but a handful of flour”.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

À poignées “by handfuls” appears about 1190 in Garnier de Pont-Sainte-Maxence, and figuratively in Joinville at the end of the 13th century.^[2][8] The sense “a small number of people” is dated about 1180 by the DHLF and to the late 14th century (Froissart) by the TLFi.^[8][5]

By metonymy it named, from 1370, the part of an object made to be grasped, a handle or hilt;^[5][8] later uses include a pad for holding hot objects (1765), the crosspiece of a loom's batten (1875) and a stonemason's cold chisel (20th century).^[8] Poignée de main “handshake” is recorded in 1845, and the popular poignées d'amour “love handles” in the 1970s.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – Puinnie “handful” appears in the Livre des Rois.^[5][2]
• c. 1175 – Chrétien de Troyes writes poigniee.^[2][3]
• c. 1180 – The form poignée appears in the Roman de Horn.^[2]
• c. 1190 – A puignies “by handfuls” in Garnier de Pont-Sainte-Maxence.^[2][8]
• 1370 – Puignee names the part of an object one grips.^[5]
• Late 14th century – Froissart uses it for a small number of people.^[5]
• 1765 – The Encyclopédie records a pad for holding hot things.^[2][8]
• 1845 – Poignée de main “handshake” is recorded.^[8]
• 1970s – Poignées d'amour “love handles” appears.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quantity of something a closed hand can hold, a handful;^[9][6] à poignées, par poignées: by the handful, in plenty.^[9][6]
2. A small number (of people).^[9][6]
3. The part of an object shaped to be held in the hand: a handle, grip or hilt: poignée de porte.^[9][6]
4. Poignée de main: a handshake.^[9][1]
5. (familiar) Poignées d'amour: love handles.^[9][8]
6. A pad for holding hot utensils.^[8]

Word family

• poignée de main

Related words

• poing
• poignet
• poigne
• empoigner
• Latin pugnus

Usage notes

The older pronunciation was [pɔɲe], Littré gives po-gnée and notes that some say poi-gnée.^[3][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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
6. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)