porche

Forms

porche m (plural porches)^[1] Old French porche, also Anglo-Norman porchis.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French porche, inherited from Latin porticus (“covered colonnade”), a derivative of porta (“gate”).^[3][4][5][6] In military Latin the word also named a covered gallery used in sieges.^[5] The same Latin word was later borrowed as portique, its learned doublet.^[1][5][7]

Cognate with Italian portico and Old Occitan porge; Catalan porxo and Spanish porche were taken from Old Occitan.^[8][6][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found at the end of the 11th century in Rashi's glosses, meaning a vestibule or room in front of a house.^[3][5] In the 12th-century Livre des Rois a porche is built in front of the temple: Un porche fud fait devant le temple vers le est “a porch was made before the temple, towards the east”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The general sense “vestibule” has disappeared; the special sense, a projecting structure that shelters the entrance door of a building, especially of a church or cathedral, is still in use.^[5] Anglo-Norman also used it for the covered entrance of a tent.^[2]

Furetière's porche de menuiserie (1690), a wooden vestibule inside the door of a church, is now called porche intérieur.^[5][3][10] The word also names the opening of a carriage gateway and any covered entrance leading into a courtyard or building.^[5]

Timeline

• late 11th century – Rashi's glosses use it for a vestibule in front of a house.^[3][10]
• 12th century – The Livre des Rois has a porche built before the temple.^[9]
• 1690 – Furetière records porche de menuiserie, a wooden vestibule inside a church door.^[3][5]
• 1869 – Littré records porche intérieur.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A porch, a covered structure projecting in front of the entrance of a building, especially of a church.^[11][12][13]
2. An entrance hall of a building.^[11][12]
3. Porche intérieur: a vestibule inside a church, before the nave.^[10][9]

Related words

• portique
• porte
• Latin porticus

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e 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
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 223b
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
13. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)