poignet

Forms

poignet m (plural poignets)^[1] Old French pugnet (1209) and Middle French puignet (1488).^[2][3][4] Middle French also poingnez in the plural.^[5]

Etymology

It is formed from French poing + -et, a diminutive.^[6][1][4][7] Its base word comes from Latin pugnus (“fist”).^[7][8] The first sense was “a handful”, as a measure of grain.^[4][3][2]

Littré compares Walloon pougnet.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1209 as pugnet, a measure of grain, literally what a fist holds, a sense that has disappeared.^[2][4][3] In 1315, in the accounts of Mahaut, Countess of Artois, it is the piece of cloth that ends the sleeve of a shirt or dress.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

The sleeve sense came first, and the part of the arm between the hand and the forearm is recorded only in 1488 (puignet, in Tournai), although it seems to be the source of the sleeve sense.^[4][6] Ambroise Paré described the wrist as the joint of the radius and the eight bones of the carpus.^[5] In the late 15th century puignet was also a bracelet.^[2]

The wrist came to stand for strength of arm, a sense usually taken by poigne: Hugo has avoir du poignet (1862), and à la force du poignet (1922) is used literally of hauling oneself up and figuratively of succeeding by one's own efforts.^[2][4][9]

Timeline

• 1209 – Pugnet is a measure of grain.^[2][4]
• 1315 – Poignet is the cuff of a sleeve.^[6][2]
• 1480 – Puignet means a bracelet.^[2]
• 1488 – Puignet names the wrist.^[6][2]
• 1530 – Palsgrave writes poignet for the wrist.^[2]
• 1862 – Hugo uses avoir du poignet.^[2]
• 1922 – Duhamel uses à la force du poignet.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The wrist, the joint between the forearm and the hand.^[6][9][1]
2. À la force du poignet: by pulling oneself up with one's arms;^[9][2] (figurative) by one's own hard efforts.^[9][2]
3. The cuff of a sleeve: poignets de chemise.^[9][6][5]

Related words

• poing
• poigne
• poignée
• empoigner
• Latin pugnus

Usage notes

Littré gives the pronunciation po-gnè beside poi-gnè, and the Grand Robert notes that /pɔɲe/ was still heard in the 19th century.^[5][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 515a
9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert