Etymologically
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rue

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rue1 street

Pronunciation

Forms

rue f (plural rues)[1]

Etymology

The street is inherited from Old French rue, inherited from Latin rūga (“wrinkle”), which in Late and popular Latin took by metaphor the sense “path, road lined with houses”.[2][3][4][5][1] The sense “wrinkle” survives in Italian ruga, Spanish arruga and Old Occitan “ruga”, and in rugueux.[3][4] The Latin word has no clear etymology, Rey mentions Lithuanian raũkas (“wrinkle”).[3]

Bloch and Wartburg note that the sense “street” is rare outside French; Spanish rúa and Portuguese rua were borrowed from French.[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1050 the Vie de saint Alexis uses it for a way lined with houses in a town; the Chanson de Roland has Toutes les rues ù li bourgeis estunt “all the streets where the burghers live”.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Courir les rues meant “to be mad” (1549), then “to be known to everyone” (1660), and vieux comme les rues “very old” dates from 1640.[3] In 1675 Madame de Sévigné used la rue for the residents of a street; it also came to mean the common people as a political force (descendre dans la rue).[2][3] Enfant des rues is in Hugo (1834).[3]

Technical senses include a gallery left in a quarry (1701), a division of a stage (1772) and, in printing, a “river” of white space (1904).[2][3] The diminutive ruelle (about 1138) also named the space between a bed and the wall, and in the 17th century the bedrooms where ladies received visitors.[3][4]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Rue in the Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • c. 1138 – Ruelle.[3][4]
  • 1549 – Courir les rues.[3]
  • 1640 – Vieux comme les rues.[3]
  • 1675 – The residents of a street, in Madame de Sévigné.[2]
  • 1834 – Enfant des rues in Hugo.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A street: habiter rue du Bac, traverser la rue.[8][9]
  2. The people living in a street: toute la rue est au courant.[9]
  3. La rue: the outdoors of a town; the common people: la pression de la rue, être à la rue, to be homeless.[9][3]
  4. (theatre) The space between two sets of wings.[9][2]

Word family

  • ruelle

rue2 the plant

Pronunciation

Forms

rue f (plural rues)[1] Old French rude (late 11th century), rue (12th century).[3][10]

Etymology

The plant is inherited from Old French rude, inherited from Latin rūta (“rue”).[3][10][4][11][1] Rey thinks the Latin word may come from Ancient Greek ῥυτή (rhutḗ), unless both were borrowed from the same substrate.[3][1]

Cognate with Italian ruta, Occitan ruda, Spanish ruda and Portuguese arruda.[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as rude at the end of the 11th century in Rashi's glosses.[3][12]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its sense, a Mediterranean plant once prized for its antiseptic and stimulating leaves.[3] The learned derivative rutacées (1803) names the plant family, which includes the citrus fruits.[3]

Timeline

  • Late 11th century – Rude in Rashi's glosses.[3][12]
  • 12th century – The form rue.[3][10]
  • 1803 – Rutacées.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. rue: a strong-smelling perennial herb with yellow flowers (Ruta).[12][9]
  • rugueux

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 l m n o p q r s t u v Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 543b
  6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 597a
  12. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse