Etymologically
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sable

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sable1 sand

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sabl/[1]
  • IPA: /sɑbl/[1]
  • IPA (Quebec): [sɑɔ̯bl][1]
  • IPA (Louisiana): [sab][1]

Forms

sable m (plural sables)[1]

Etymology

Sand is first found as an isolated form about 1150, from Latin sabulum (“sand; coarse sand, gravel”) (syncopated sablum).[2][3][4][1] In Old and Middle French the usual words were sablon and areine (see arène); when the word reappears in the 15th century it is probably a back-formation from Old French sablon,[2][3][5][6] which continues sabulōnem (“coarse sand”), from the same Latin noun.[2][5] The early feminine (1483) is explained, on that view, by analogy with pairs such as glace and glaçon.[2] The GLLF instead derives it directly from the Latin word and calls the back-formation less likely.[7] Rey compares Ancient Greek ψάμαθος (psámathos, “sand”) and Old High German sant.[3]

Compare Italian sabbia and Portuguese saibro (“gravel”).[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Roman de Thèbes (about 1150) has the figurative semer ses paroles en sable “to sow one's words in the sand, waste them”, and also uses it for a stretch of sand.[2]

Semantic evolution

After the 15th-century records (soble, 1482, la sable, 1483), Palsgrave (1530) makes it masculine.[2] From the 16th century the plural sables named a sandy waste or desert (1503).[2][3] Rabelais (1552) has horologe de sable, the hourglass later called sablier, and foundry work gave jeter en sable “to cast in a sand mould” (Monet, 1636), which La Fontaine (1684) used for downing a drink at one go.[2][3] Montaigne (1588) applies it to kidney gravel.[2]

Figurative phrases include bâtir sur le sable (Racan, about 1618), sables mouvants “quicksand” (early 17th century; figurative 1689), le marchand de sable a passé (1659), avoir du sable dans les yeux “to be sleepy” (1798) and slang être sur le sable “to be broke” (1827).[2][3][7]

Timeline

  • c. 1150 – Sable, Roman de Thèbes.[2]
  • 1482–83 – Soble, la sable.[2]
  • 1530 – Masculine sable, Palsgrave.[2]
  • 1552 – Horologe de sable, Rabelais.[2]
  • 1588 – Kidney gravel, Montaigne.[2]
  • c. 1618 – Bâtir sur le sable, Racan.[2]
  • 1636 – Jeter en sable, Monet.[2]
  • 1659 – Le marchand de sable a passé.[3]
  • 1827 – Être sur le sable “to be broke”.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. sand: grain de sable, plage de sable fin, sables mouvants, quicksand.[8][1]
  2. Sables (plural): a sandy expanse, desert.[2][3]
  3. Bâtir sur le sable: to build on sand, le marchand de sable est passé, it is bedtime.[3][8]
  4. (medicine, dated) Gravel in the kidneys.[2]

Adjective

  1. Sand-coloured, beige: un imperméable sable.[9][8]

Word family

  • sabler
  • sableux
  • sablier
  • sablière
  • ensabler
  • désensabler

sable2 heraldic black

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sabl/[1]
  • IPA: /sɑbl/[1]
  • IPA (Quebec): [sɑɔ̯bl][1]
  • IPA (Louisiana): [sab][1]

Forms

sable m (plural sables)[1]

Etymology

The heraldic colour is borrowed from Medieval Latin sabellum (“sable marten”),[3][4][5] from Russian соболь (sóbolʹ) or Polish soból, the name of a marten with black fur.[3][4][8][1] Wiktionary has it pass through Middle Low German sabel, comparing Middle High German zobel.[1] It is a doublet of zibeline.[1][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rey dates the word to about 1165, and Chrétien de Troyes (about 1175) uses it for the sable marten.[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

Until the 16th century it named the sable marten and its skin used as fur.[3][5] In heraldry (about 1240) it means “black”, the colour of the fur.[3][4][8] The Anglo-Norman sable “sable fur; black” is recorded from 1300.[11]

Timeline

  • c. 1165 – First record.[3]
  • c. 1175 – The sable marten, Chrétien de Troyes.[4]
  • c. 1240 – “Black” in heraldry.[3][4]
  • 16th century – The animal's name drops out of use.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (heraldry) sable, black.[8][1]
  2. (obsolete) The sable marten; its fur.[3]
  • sablon
  • zibeline

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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 u 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e f 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. 11, 18a
  7. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)