poupe

Forms

poupe f (plural poupes)^[1] Early spellings pope and poupe (1246).^[2][3] Anglo-Norman also had pope and powpe.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ligurian popa, the Genoese form, recorded in 1246 in the Medieval Latin of Genoa.^[2][3][1] The Genoese word, like Italian pope (Modena, 1218) and poppa (Dante), goes back to Vulgar Latin *puppa, an alteration of Latin puppis (“stern”), perhaps under the influence of the feminine gender of the Latin noun or of prōra (“prow”), the word it is opposed to.^[2][3] Since the earliest French texts with the word are Italianizing (the 1246 Genoa documents, the Chiprois texts, Philippe de Mézières, Christine de Pizan), the TLFi and Rey prefer this explanation, after Vidos, Fennis and Hope.^[2][3]

Wartburg instead derived it from Old Occitan popa (Marseille, 1288),^[5][2] and Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert also give a Provençal source.^[6][7][8] Rey notes that the Latin word itself has no known etymology.^[3] Cognate with Spanish popa.^[9][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1246 poupe and pope appear in proposals drawn up at Genoa by the commissioners of Louis IX, meaning the stern of a ship.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word has always named the rear of a ship, as opposed to the proue.^[3][2] From about 1440 it is found in the figurative phrase avoir le vent en poupe “to be carried towards success by circumstances”;^[2][3] Littré remarks that sailors themselves did not say it, but avoir vent arrière.^[9] The TLFi labels the word dated in the navy, where arrière is the usual term, and it applies chiefly to old wooden ships.^[2] The Anglo-Norman pope is recorded in 1409–11.^[4]

Timeline

• 1246 – Poupe and pope are recorded in the Genoa documents of Louis IX's crusade.^[2][3]
• 1288 – Old Provençal popa is recorded at Marseille.^[2][3]
• c. 1440 – Avoir le vent en poupe is used figuratively in L'Amant rendu cordelier.^[2][3]
• 1549 – Robert Estienne records vent en poupe.^[10]
• 1690 – Furetière records naviguer beaupré sur poupe.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (nautical) The stern of a ship, as opposed to the proue: la poupe et la proue.^[8][11]
2. Avoir le vent en poupe: to be favoured by circumstances, to be heading for success; literally, to have the wind astern.^[8][11][12]
3. Naviguer beaupré sur poupe: to sail close in the wake of another ship.^[10][9]

Related words

• proue
• Latin puppis
• English poop

Usage notes

Littré also records an old anatomical phrase os de la poupe for the frontal bone, and a separate Old French poupe “breast”, which Diez traced to Latin pupa (“girl”).^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 608a
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. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)