saltimbanque

Forms

saltimbanque m (plural saltimbanques)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian saltimbanco (“fairground acrobat”), literally “jump-on-bench”, compounded of salta from saltare (“to jump”), in (“on”) and banco (“bench, platform”).^[2][3][4][5] Italian also had cantimbanco “sing-on-bench”.^[4][3] The Italian verb comes from Latin saltō (“to dance”), and the noun from the Germanic stem Proto-Germanic *bank-.^[3][6] The TLFi dates the Italian word from the 17th century, with saltimbanca in Annibale Caro in the 16th.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bloch and Wartburg and the DHLF date it to the 16th century in Étienne Pasquier; the TLFi's first dated record is 1615, when Camus, still writing it in Italian, speaks of saltimbanques vying to sell their goods to the people.^[4][3][2] It meant a fairground mountebank performing in public squares.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Already with Retz in the mid-17th century it was used figuratively.^[2][6] It came to be said disparagingly of a person who cannot be taken seriously (1690) and of a bad speaker with exaggerated gestures (1694), uses now dated.^[3][5] By extension, and familiarly, it is now said of any performer who appears before the public: actor, singer, dancer, presenter.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 1615 – Camus uses it of fairground showmen.^[2]
• 1661–1678 – Retz uses it figuratively.^[2]
• 1690 – It is said of a person who cannot be taken seriously.^[3]
• 1694 – It is said of a speaker with exaggerated gestures.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A street or fairground performer who does acrobatics and feats of skill, an acrobat or tumbler: troupe de saltimbanques.^[7][8][2]
2. (familiar) Any performer who appears in public, such as an actor or singer.^[7][8]
3. (dated, figurative) A buffoon who cannot be taken seriously; a speaker with overdone gestures.^[5][3]

Related words

• sauter
• banc
• Italian saltimbanco

Usage notes

The noun is used for both sexes, as in Balzac's une saltimbanque.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)