Etymologically
Log in

salle

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 07:14. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

salle f (plural salles)[1] Old French sale and saule (1220); the spelling salle appears about 1250 according to Rey, in Froissart according to the GLLF.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Frankish *sal (“dwelling, hall”), a masculine that became feminine, as “sala” in the laws of the Germanic peoples shows.[2][5][4][6] The GLLF starts from Late Latin sala (early 8th century).[3] The stressed /a/ was kept, perhaps under the influence of halle.[2][5] The Frankish word is related to German Saal and goes back to Proto-Germanic *salą.[2][1]

Spanish sala and Portuguese sala mean the main living room; Italian sala has the augmentative salone, the source of salon.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it is the great room of a castle where people live and are received: Monte al palais, est venut en la sale (“he goes up into the palace and comes into the hall”).[7][8]

Semantic evolution

Until the 16th century the word was used alone; it also meant a palace (about 1250), any building (1340), a set of hangings for a room and a court of law (1382), senses since lost.[2] From the 16th century, usually with a complement, it named rooms for particular purposes: salle d'audience (1538), salle de bal (1591), salle d'armes (1594 alone, 1677 in full), salle à manger (1584 in Rey, 1636 in the TLFi) and salle de bain (1691).[7][2]

In 1558 it was the main living room of a house, a use that survives in the countryside of western France and Burgundy but gave way in towns to salon and salle de séjour (1955).[2][7] A hospital ward is salle in Richelet (1680), and salle d'attente is found in 1823, in a railway station from 1837.[7] By metonymy it means the audience of a theatre (1835 in the TLFi; found by 1840).[9] In Quebec the dining room is traditionally the salle à dîner.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Sale, the hall of a castle, in the Chanson de Roland.[7]
  • c. 1250 – The spelling salle.[2]
  • 1538 – Salle d'audience.[7]
  • 1558 – The main room of a house, in Gouberville.[7]
  • 1636 – Salle à manger in Monet.[7]
  • 1680 – A hospital ward.[7]
  • 1691 – Salle de bain.[7]
  • 1823 – Salle d'attente.[7]
  • 1955 – Salle de séjour in Camus.[7][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A large room, a hall, in a castle or palace.[10][11]
  2. A room of a dwelling with a particular use: salle à manger, salle de bains, salle de séjour.[10][12]
  3. A room or hall for a function: salle de classe, salle d'attente, salle d'opération, salle des ventes.[10][7]
  4. A hospital ward.[7]
  5. An auditorium, a cinema; the audience in it: toute la salle applaudit.[9][1]
  6. The public area of a restaurant or theatre.[1]
  7. A sports hall, (informal) a gym.[1]
  8. (regional) The main room of a country house.[2]

Usage notes

Salle is pronounced like sale “dirty”.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b 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. 17, 8b
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)