sablon

Forms

sablon m (plural sablons)^[1] Old French sablun (1125), then sablon (about 1170–1175).^[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman spellings include sabelon, sabeloun and sabulon.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French sablun, inherited from Late Latin sablō (“earth, sand, sandy place”), a shortened form of Latin sabulō (“coarse sand, gravel”),^[6][7] itself derived from sabulum (“sand”).^[4][8][2] Littré took the Late Latin adjective sablonosus (“sandy”) as evidence that the contracted form existed by the 7th century.^[9] Rey relates the Latin noun to other Indo-European words for sand, such as Ancient Greek ψάμαθος (psámathos) and Old High German sampt.^[2]

The modern word sable¹ “sand” was formed from it in the 15th century, the ending -on being taken for a diminutive suffix.^[2][10]

Cognate with Walloon sâvion, Occitan sablon and Italian sabbione.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire (1121–1134), meaning sand: le sablun de mer “the sand of the sea”.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

Before sable became usual, sablon was the ordinary word both for sand and for sandy ground, the latter from about 1130.^[2][6] From 1294 it is used of fine sand, as the ending was felt to be a diminutive, and that is the sense it keeps.^[2][6] In its other uses it was displaced by sable, as in horloge à sablon (1393) and sablon mouvant (1611).^[2]

In technical use it is a very fine sand used as an abrasive, a sense the GLLF dates to the accounts of Doullens of 1470;^[4][6] too fine for building, it is also used for backfill.^[7] The plural sablons for a sandy place is recorded before 1559 in Du Bellay and has become dated.^[4][9] The word survives in place names and in its derivatives.^[2][10]

Timeline

• 1121–1134 – Philippe de Thaon writes le sablun de mer.^[6]
• c. 1130 – Gormont et Isembart uses it for sandy ground.^[6]
• c. 1175 – The spelling sablon appears in Chrétien de Troyes.^[4]
• c. 1190 – The derivative sablonier is recorded for sandy ground.^[2]
• 1294 – First recorded for fine sand.^[6][2]
• 1387 – The verb sablonner “to scour with fine sand” is recorded.^[6]
• 1393 – Horloge à sablon names an hourglass.^[2]
• 1470 – The accounts of Doullens mention a load of sablon.^[6][4]
• 1611 – Sablon mouvant is recorded for shifting sand.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (technical) Very fine sand, used as an abrasive and for backfill.^[8][7][4]
2. (archaic) Sand in general.^[6][8][1]
3. (archaic) A sandy place, an expanse of sand, chiefly in the plural.^[6][8][9]

Word family

• sablonner
• sablonneux
• sablonnier
• sablonnière

Related words

• sable¹
• Latin sabulum

Usage notes

The word lives on in place names: the plaine des Sablons near Paris has given its name to a metro station.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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
7. ^ a b c d Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)