rêne

Forms

rêne f (plural rênes)^[1] Old French resne;^[2][3] renne in the late 15th century, rene in 1573, and the circumflex from 1680 (Richelet).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French resne, inherited from Vulgar Latin *retina (“strap for guiding a mount”), a back-formation from Latin retineō (“to hold back, restrain”) (the source of retenir).^[4][2][5][6] Classical Latin had retināculum (“tie, rope, rein”), but the Romance words all go back to the popular form.^[4][2] The ⟨s⟩ of the Old French form is a trace of the lost /t/, and the circumflex replaced it in the 17th century.^[5][7][2]

Cognate with Italian redina, Spanish rienda, Catalan regna, Old Occitan regna and Portuguese rédea.^[4][2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as resne in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), for the strap of a horse's bridle: si li lasche la resne “and gives him the rein”.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

The word names each strap fixed to the bit of a saddle animal to guide or hold it back; it at first competed with guide for driving horses, then took over in every case.^[2] Riding gave technical phrases: fausse rêne (1690), a leather strap used to make a horse bend its neck, longues rênes (1932), and the jocular prendre la cinquième rêne (1842), to grab the mane or the pommel so as not to fall.^[2][3][7]

Rey dates the figurative sense, the direction of an undertaking, to about 1240, the TLFi to the early 14th century.^[2][4] It is used mostly in the plural and in phrases such as tenir les rênes, in a formal style.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Resne in the Chanson de Roland.^[4][2]
• c. 1240 – Figurative sense “direction, control”.^[2][3]
• late 15th century – The spelling renne.^[2]
• 1573 – The spelling rene.^[2][3]
• 1680 – Richelet writes rêne with a circumflex.^[2][3]
• 1690 – Furetière records fausse rêne.^[3]
• 1842 – The Académie records prendre la cinquième rêne.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rein: a strap fixed to the bit of a saddle animal, by which the rider guides it: partager les rênes, holding one in each hand.^[8][4]
2. Fausse rêne: a leather strap used to make a horse bend its neck.^[4][7]
3. (figurative, plural) Control, direction of an affair: tenir, prendre les rênes “to be, to take charge”, lâcher les rênes “to give everything up”.^[8][1]

Word family

• enrêner

Related words

• retenir
• Latin retineō

Usage notes

Rêne sounds the same as reine “queen” and renne “reindeer”.^[8]

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 m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 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
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 332b
7. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert