poitrine
Pronunciation
- IPA: /pwa.tʁin/[1]
Forms
poitrine f (plural poitrines)[1] Old French peitrine (about 1050), Middle French poiterine (1280).[2][3]
Etymology
It is inherited from Old French peitrine, inherited from Vulgar Latin *pectorīna, the feminine used as a noun of an adjective *pectorīnus, from Latin pectus (“breast, chest”).[4][2][5][6][7][1] The same Vulgar Latin word gave Italian pettorina and Spanish pretina, both names of belts.[2][5] The Latin noun itself gave pis, which in the 16th–17th century narrowed to “udder”, leaving this word for the human chest; the Rhône region also has a form pitre, from the Latin accusative.[2][5][8] The Grand Robert and Bloch–Wartburg note that the Old French word first meant a breastplate or the breast harness of a horse.[6][5]
Compare Romanian piept, Italian petto, Occitan piech, Spanish pecho and Portuguese peito, from the Latin noun.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has debatre sa peitrine “to beat one's breast”, the front of the rib cage.[4][2]
Semantic evolution
Wace (1155) uses it for the part of the trunk between the shoulders and the abdomen.[4][2] About 1165 it also meant a woman's breasts, a use that became rare from the 16th to the 18th century, was called popular by Boiste in 1834, and spread to all styles after 1850.[2][4]
In the 17th century the word was thought “low”: Malherbe wished it used rarely, and Vaugelas (1647) says it was condemned in prose and verse because one says poitrine de veau, estomac was often used instead.[4][2] It survived in medicine, in mal de poitrine (1600) and poitrine empêchée (1611), and only became an unmarked word again in the early 19th century.[4][2] La Bruyère (1688) uses it for a preacher's voice.[4]
Timeline
- c. 1050 – Peitrine, Vie de saint Alexis.[4]
- 1155 – The chest, Wace.[4]
- c. 1165 – A woman's breasts.[2]
- 1600 – Mal de poitrine, Olivier de Serres.[4]
- 1647 – Vaugelas reports that the word is condemned.[4]
- 1688 – “Voice”, La Bruyère.[4]
- Early 19th century – An unmarked word again.[2]
Meanings
Noun
- The chest: tour de poitrine, respirer à pleine poitrine, se frapper la poitrine.[3][1]
- A woman's breasts, bust: avoir de la poitrine.[2][1]
- (dated) The lungs, as diseased: s'en aller de la poitrine, angine de poitrine, angina pectoris.[3][9][1]
- (cooking) Breast: poitrine de veau; breast of poultry.[4][1]
- Voix de poitrine: chest voice.[3]
Word family
- poitrinaire
- poitriner
Related words
- expectorer
- pectoral
- pis
- poitrail
- sein
- Latin pectus
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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
- ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 110a
- ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF