Etymologically
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rubis

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Forms

rubis m (invariable)[1] Old French robin (about 1160), rubin, rubi (about 1175), rubis (about 1196); the plural form replaced rubi about the 16th century.[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French rubis, the plural, taken as a singular, of rubi, earlier robin, rubin,[2][5][1] borrowed from Medieval Latin rubīnus (“red precious stone”),[4][2][5][6][1][7] a derivative of Latin rubeus (“red, reddish”), the source of rouge.[2][6][3] The loss of the “-n” is due to the influence of Old Occitan robi, in which it had regularly fallen.[4][2][5][6] The Medieval Latin word also gave Italian rubino, whence Spanish rubín and German Rubin.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie (about 1165) names rubis among precious stones; the same poem also has the form robin.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The name extends to other red stones, as the rubis balais (1228), the rubis de Bohême (1768) and the faux rubis.[4][2] In the 15th century Basselin jokes about a nose whose rubis have cost many casks of wine, and rubis were red spots on a drinker's face (1539), a sense now gone.[8][4][2]

Faire rubis sur l'ongle (1640) was to drink a glass so dry that the last drop, poured on the thumbnail, did not run; from “to the last drop” came payer rubis sur l'ongle, “to pay on the nail, to the last penny” (1668–1685).[2][4] In watchmaking a rubis is a jewel bearing (1801), so that a montre trois rubis has three jewels[4][2][9][10]; rubis is also a vivid red colour (1704; adjective 1849) and the name of brightly coloured hummingbirds (1791).[4][2][9][10]

Timeline

  • c. 1160 – Robin (Benoît de Sainte-Maure).[2][3]
  • c. 1175 – Rubi (Chrétien de Troyes).[3][6]
  • c. 1196 – Rubis as a singular (Jean Bodel).[2][3]
  • 1228 – Rubi balois.[4]
  • 1539 – Red spots on a drinker's nose.[4][2]
  • 1640 – Faire rubis sur l'ongle.[4][2]
  • 1685 – Payer rubis sur l'ongle (Furetière).[4]
  • 1801 – A jewel in a watch.[4][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A ruby, a red precious stone, a variety of corundum.[9][11]
  2. (watchmaking) A jewel bearing.[9][11]
  3. Payer rubis sur l'ongle: to pay cash, to the last penny.[2][4]
  4. A vivid red colour[11][10]; (as adjective) ruby-red.[11][10]
  • rouge
  • Latin rubeus
  • English ruby

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 p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f 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 i j k l m n o 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 c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 535b
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b c d Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  11. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)