puy

Forms

puy m (plural puys)^[1] Old French pui, written puy from the 14th century.^[2][3] Anglo-Norman piu and poi.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pui, inherited from Late Latin podium (“small eminence”), a sense of the 6th century.^[5][2][6][7] In Classical Latin the word meant a raised platform, the thick wall round the arena of an amphitheatre with seats on it, and a support or pedestal.^[5][6][3] The Latin noun is from Ancient Greek πόδιον (pódion, “small foot”), a diminutive of πούς (poús, “foot”).^[5][8] The French word is a doublet of the later borrowing podium, and appuyer belongs to the same family.^[2][9][1]

Cognate with Italian poggio, Old Occitan poi, Occitan puèg, Catalan puig, Spanish poyo and Portuguese poio.^[6][9][1] Wiktionary suggests that its modern regional use may come at least in part from Franco-Provençal.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears at the end of the 11th century as pui “hill, height” in the Judeo-French glosses of Rashi, and about 1100 in the Chanson de Roland (Halt sont li pui, “High are the hills”).^[5][8]

Semantic evolution

In Old French it was a common word for a height, summit or hill.^[2][6] It was still listed by Cotgrave in 1611, but the dictionaries called it obsolete from the 1721 supplement of Trévoux on;^[5] it came back in the 19th century (Boiste, 1834) and was made a term of geography in 1845–1846, chosen for mountains formed like the volcanic puys of Auvergne.^[5][6][2]

By a development that is not well explained, about 1248 pui also named the semi-literary, semi-religious societies of some northern French towns that held contests of lyric and dramatic poetry in honour of the Virgin.^[5][2] The proposed explanations are the old sense “platform”, where the poems were read; the town of Le Puy, whose shrine and society served as a model for the northern brotherhoods; or an allegory of the mountain, the realm of the arts being set on a height.^[5][2] The Anglo-Norman word had this sense too, of the societies in French cities and in London.^[4]

Timeline

• late 11th century – Pui “hill” in Rashi's glosses.^[5]
• c. 1100 – Pui in the Chanson de Roland.^[5][8]
• c. 1248 – Pui “literary society”, in Andrieu Contredit.^[5]
• 14th century – The spelling puy.^[2][3]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records puy.^[5]
• 1721 – Listed as an obsolete word by the Trévoux supplement.^[5]
• 1834 – Revived by Boiste.^[5]
• 1845–1846 – Used as a term of geography by Bescherelle.^[5][2]
• 1869 – The sense “rounded volcanic hill of Auvergne”.^[2][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (geography, regional) A hill or mountain, especially a rounded volcanic one in Auvergne, often in place names: le puy de Dôme.^[5][9][10]
2. (literary history) In the Middle Ages, a society in some towns of northern France that held poetry contests in honour of the Virgin: le puy d'Arras, le puy de Rouen.^[5][9][8]

Related words

• podium
• appuyer
• appui

Usage notes

Puy sounds the same as puis and puits.^[5][9] Littré also records puy d'amour, a court of love, an assembly of ladies and poets.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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
6. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 111b
8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e 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