poncho

Forms

poncho m (plural ponchos)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish poncho, a word of Spanish America for the same garment.^[2][3][1][4] The Spanish word is recorded in this sense from the 18th century, but already in 1530 in Castilian for a small blanket laid over a horse's rump, and also for a thick nightshirt.^[2][3]

Its further origin is disputed.^[2][3] One explanation, reported by Rey, takes it from Spanish pocho (“faded, discoloured”), which could have come to mean a plain blanket of one colour without patterns; that adjective would be an extension of a sense “phlegmatic”, its root being related to the expressive root seen in pachón (“phlegmatic”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in 1716 in Frézier's account of a voyage to the South Seas along the coasts of Chile and Peru, for the South American peasant's cloak.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word names a South American outer garment made of one piece of cloth with a hole for the head, often in connection with the Indians and the gauchos,^[3][2] and by extension any garment of similar shape.^[3][2] The GLLF also records it for the cloth from which the cloak is made, a sense that BHVF places in the late 18th century; the GLLF dates the cloak sense in dictionaries to Larousse in 1875.^[5][6] The Grand Robert dates the cloth sense to 1772 and the garment to 1822.^[7]

Around 1976–1977 fashion writing used it as the second part of compounds such as cape-poncho, robe-poncho and veste-poncho.^[3] Larousse also gives it for a house slipper whose knitted upper forms a sock.^[8]

Timeline

• 1530 – The Spanish word is recorded for a blanket put over a horse's rump.^[2][3]
• 1716 – Poncho appears in Frézier's account of his voyage to Chile and Peru.^[2][3]
• 1772 – The Grand Robert dates the sense of a fabric to this year.^[7]
• 1875 – Larousse records the cloak sense.^[5][6]
• 1976–1977 – Compounds such as robe-poncho appear in the fashion press.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A poncho, a South American cloak made of a rectangle of woven wool with an opening in the middle for the head, worn by peasants and gauchos.^[4][2][9]
2. By extension, a garment of similar shape: un poncho en laine.^[2][3]
3. The cloth from which such cloaks are made.^[5]
4. A house slipper whose knitted upper forms a sock.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)