poulain

Forms

poulain m (plural poulains)^[1] Old French pulain (1121–1134), polain (1176–1184), then poulain (about 1210).^[2][3] A variant poulin was still recorded by the Académie in 1878.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pulain, probably inherited from Late Latin pullāmen (“young of an animal”), which is from Latin pullus (“young of an animal, foal”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Late Latin noun is found in the “Scholia Bernensia” on Virgil and in the “Mulomedicina Chironis”, and probably first had a collective sense.^[2][6][3] The Trésor and Bloch and Wartburg are more cautious, calling the French word a very old derivative of the Latin one that perhaps represents the Late Latin noun;^[2][6] Littré derived it from a Late Latin pullānus.^[7]

Rey describes the Latin word as an old rustic word with an expressive double consonant, linked to an Indo-European root for the young of animals, as is Latin puer (“child”); he compares Gothic 𐍆𐌿𐌻𐌰 (fula, “foal”).^[3] Bloch and Wartburg find the word only in French,^[6] though Littré compares Walloon polein, Old Occitan pollin and Spanish pollino.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as pulain in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire (1121–1134), meaning a young horse less than two years old.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the 13th century, by the same likeness that gave chevalet and chèvre their technical senses, poulain named a frame of heavy timbers used to move goods;^[3][2] Rabelais wrote Par le poulain on descend le vin en cave “with the poulain one lowers wine into the cellar”.^[7] In 1694 Thomas Corneille recorded the naval sense, a prop set against a ship under construction so that it cannot slide.^[2][3]

At the end of the 19th century (1893) the word was applied to a young sportsman in a manager's “stable”, by comparison with a young racehorse,^[3][2][8] and since 1948 more generally to a beginner helped in his career by an influential patron.^[2][3] The skin of the animal dressed as fur is recorded in 1925.^[2]

Timeline

• 1121–1134 – Pulain appears in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire.^[2]
• 1176–1184 – The form polain is used by Gautier d'Arras.^[2]
• c. 1210 – The form poulain appears.^[2]
• First half of the 13th century – A frame of timbers for moving goods.^[2]
• c. 1330 – The verb pouliner “to foal” is recorded as pouléner.^[2][3]
• 1694 – Thomas Corneille records the naval sense.^[2]
• 1893 – A young sportsman under a manager, in L'Écho de Paris.^[2][8]
• 1925 – Foal skin used as fur.^[2]
• 1948 – Cendrars uses it for a beginner backed by a patron.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A foal, a young horse, male or female.^[9][2][1]
2. The skin of a foal dressed as fur.^[5][2]
3. A promising beginner considered as the protégé of the person who supports him (a coach, teacher or publisher).^[9][2][1]
4. (technical) A frame of timbers or a ladder-like device on which heavy loads and casks are slid.^[7][2]
5. (nautical) A shore set under a ship on the stocks to keep it from sliding.^[7][2]

Word family

• pouliner
• poulinière
• pouliche

Related words

• poule
• poulet
• Latin pullus

Usage notes

Littré gives two other words spelled poulain: a coarse popular name for a syphilitic bubo, probably so called because it made the sufferer walk with his legs apart like a foal, and a 13th-century name for the mixed population of the Syrian coast, which he derived from an Arabic word meaning “so-and-so”.^[7] Wiktionary derives this Poulain instead from Latin Pullānus.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 y 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert