ponton

Forms

ponton m (plural pontons)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French ponton, inherited from Latin pontō (“flat-bottomed boat, ferry”), a derivative of pōns (“bridge”).^[2][3][4][1] Littré notes that the Old French word was also felt as a derivative of pont.^[5]

Cognate with Spanish pontón (“small bridge”) and Catalan pontó.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1245 in Philippe Mousket's Chroniques, meaning simply a “bridge”.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The word first named a bridge and, in the later 14th century, a drawbridge, a sense it later lost.^[2][7] In military use it meant a large flat boat for crossing a river (Froissart, late 14th century, perhaps as early as 1251); from 1532, as a Latinism, it also meant a floating bridge made of boats joined together.^[2][7]

At sea it came to mean an old ship kept in port for heavy work (1515) and used as a store, a barracks or a prison (1813); the prison sense recalls the hulks in which the English held French prisoners during the wars of the Empire.^[2][7] Since 1876 it has also named a floating platform joined to the shore for landing.^[7] The English word pontoon (1670s) was taken from the French word.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1245 – Philippe Mousket uses it for a bridge.^[2]
• 1251 – A record may already use it for a flat boat for crossing a river.^[2][7]
• 1360–1370 – Baudouin de Sebourg uses it for a drawbridge.^[2]
• 1515 – Antoine de Conflans uses it for an old ship serving in harbours.^[2]
• 1532 – A letter of Francis I uses it for a floating bridge of boats.^[2]
• 1670s – English borrows it as pontoon.^[8]
• 1813 – It names an old dismasted ship used as a prison.^[2][7]
• 1872 – Littré's Supplement records it as an instrument for measuring heaps of broken stone.^[2]
• 1876 – It names a floating landing stage.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A floating platform, such as a pontoon supporting a floating bridge or a landing stage.^[9][1]
2. A decked lighter used for heavy work in harbours.^[9][10]
3. An old dismasted ship moored in port and used as a store, barracks or prison.^[9][2]
4. (dated, military) A floating bridge made of light boats joined by beams and planks, for troops crossing a river.^[2][10]
5. (technical) A jointed metal instrument shaped like a trapezium, used to measure heaps of broken stone by the roadside.^[9][2]

Word family

• pontonnier
• pontonnage

Related words

• pont
• Latin pōns
• English pontoon

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 o 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. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse