portée

Forms

portée f (plural portées)^[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine past participle used as a noun, from French porter¹ (“to carry”).^[2][3][4][5] The verb comes from Latin portō (“to carry”), a word of everyday Latin.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

At the end of the 12th century, in the Prise d’Orange, portee was a measure for liquids, especially wine.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Following the senses of porter “carry, bear”, it meant the bearing of a child, gestation (about 1274), then the child itself (1286–1316) and a race or breed (1320–1330), before narrowing about 1450 to all the young that a female animal bears at one time.^[2][4] Many technical senses followed: in weaving (1302), as a land measure (1575), in architecture for the span between supports and in music for the staff of lines (both 1636), in plumbing (1676), for a ship's load (1681) and in mechanics (1873).^[2][4]

The other branch follows porter “reach, carry as far as”: hunting used portées in 1377, and, from 1543 (portée de canon) the word meant the distance a projectile can reach.^[2][4] By 1538 it also meant the capacity to understand, now archaic.^[2][7] From 1690 it was used of the distance at which something can be seen, heard or reached, and of what is or is not accessible: hors la portée de is found in 1585, à portée in 1672 and 1679.^[2][4] From 1585 it also meant the power to have effects, then the significance of a book or an act.^[2] Radio (1902) and computing (1975) gave it further senses.^[2]

Timeline

• late 12th century – A measure for liquids, in the Prise d’Orange.^[2][4]
• c. 1274 – Adenet le Roi uses it for gestation.^[2]
• c. 1450 – The sense “litter” appears, in the Évangiles des quenouilles.^[2][4]
• 1538 – Estienne records the sense “capacity to understand”.^[2][7]
• 1543 – Portée de canon, the range of a gun.^[2][4]
• 1585 – First record of hors la portée de.^[2][4]
• 1636 – Monet records the span in architecture, and Mersenne the musical staff.^[2][4]
• 1679 – La Fontaine writes à portée.^[2]
• 1902 – The range of radio signals.^[2]
• 1975 – The computing sense is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A litter, all the young that a female mammal bears at one time: trois chiots de la même portée.^[8][2][1]
2. (architecture) The span between the supports of a beam, arch or vault; also the part of a beam that rests on its support.^[8][2]
3. (technical) The maximum weight a balance can weigh.^[8]
4. (music) The staff or stave, the five lines on which music is written.^[8][1]
5. The range of a projectile or weapon: missiles à longue portée; also the distance a voice, sight or a radar can reach.^[8][1]
6. À portée de, à la portée de: within reach of;^[8][1] à portée de main, within arm's reach;^[8][1] hors de portée, out of reach.^[8][1]
7. (figurative) What is accessible to someone's understanding or means: un livre à la portée de tous.^[8][2]
8. The scope, significance or impact of something.^[2][1]
9. (computing) The scope of an identifier.^[2][1]

Related words

• porter¹
• port²
• Latin portō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x 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. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert