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rideau

Etymology and origin of the French word rideau

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Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1347, Medieval Latin of England
Ultimate origin
Old High German (rīdan)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁi.do/[1]

Forms

rideau m (plural rideaux)[1] Middle French ridel (1436).[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French rider + -eau, from the old sense of rider “to pleat, gather”, a curtain being gathered in folds.[2][4][5][6][7] The verb is probably from Old High German rīdan (“to turn, twist”), earlier wrīdan;[2][8][7][9] Rey finds the sense development hard to explain, and other proposals, derivatives of rūga (“wrinkle”) or of rigidus (“stiff”), meet serious phonetic difficulties.[8][2] Wiktionary also mentions ridil (“headband”) as a direct source of the Middle French noun.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Medieval Latin of an English text of 1347 has ridellos;[2][7] the French ridel “piece of fabric, usually gathered, hung to hide or shelter something” is found in 1436.[2]

Semantic evolution

The theatre curtain is in Robert Estienne (1538), and Aubigné has tirer le rideau sur quelque chose, figuratively, before 1616.[2] In the 15th and 16th centuries a ridel or rideau was also a fold of ground, a low ridge, as in Aubigné's rideaux de terre.[7][3] It named a hornbeam hedge (1755), a screen of mangroves (Raynal, 1780) and, in the Académie of 1798, any line of trees or houses that cuts off the view.[2]

Rideau de fer was first the theatre's iron safety curtain (1893), then a shop's metal shutter (Colette, 1900), and in 1945 the political iron curtain, a calque of English iron curtain (attested 1920, made famous by Churchill in 1946).[2] Le rideau tombe is recorded by Littré in 1870, and doubles rideaux in Jules Romains (1934).[5]

Timeline

  • 1347 – Ridellos in an English Latin text.[2]
  • 1436 – Ridel.[2]
  • 1538 – The theatre curtain.[2]
  • Before 1616 – Tirer le rideau sur, in Aubigné.[2]
  • 1755 – A hedge.[2]
  • 1798 – Former rideau.[2]
  • 1893 – Rideau de fer in the theatre.[2]
  • 1900 – A shop's metal shutter, in Colette.[2]
  • 1945 – The political iron curtain.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A curtain: rideaux de fenêtre, doubles rideaux, tirer les rideaux.[6][1]
  2. The curtain of a stage: lever de rideau, curtain-raiser, le rideau tombe.[1][5]
  3. A screen (of trees, smoke): rideau de fumée, a smokescreen.[2][1]
  4. Rideau de fer: a theatre's safety curtain; a shop's metal shutter, (politics) the Iron Curtain.[2][1]
  5. (figurative) A veil, something that hides.[1]
  • rider
  • ride
  • dérider

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 705a
Cite this entry

“Rideau.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/rideau. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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