sein

Pronunciation

• /sɛ̃/^[1]

Forms

sein m (plural seins)^[1] Old French sein, sain.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French sein, inherited from Latin sinus (“curve, fold; fold of the toga across the chest; bosom; bay”).^{[2][4][5][6][7][1]} The fold of the toga, gathered over the shoulder, was where women carried their child, hence the Latin figurative sense “bosom, breast”; the word also meant “refuge” and, in phrases, “the inside of” (in sinū urbis (“in the heart of the city”)).^[4][8] In Christian Latin the bosom of Abraham (Luke 16:22) and the bosom of the Church are sinus Abrahae and sinus ecclesiae.^[2] The Latin word has no known etymology.^[4][8] It is a doublet of the learned sinus.^[1]

Cognate with Romanian sân, Italian seno, Occitan sen, Catalan si, Spanish seno and Portuguese seio.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire (1121–34) uses it for the part of the garment covering the chest, the space between chest and clothing.^[2][4][6] The same text has el sein saint Abraam “in the bosom of Abraham”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From about 1150–60 it named the front of the human chest, often as the seat of feeling, the usual sense in the classical period when poitrine was rare.^[2][4] Already about 1155–74 Wace speaks of the earth that fed him “in its bosom”, and au sein de “in the midst of” is in Du Bellay (1558).^[2][4] From about 1200 sein meant a woman's chest, and in the 16th century each of her breasts (ces femmes qui ont si grans sains, early 16th century); the plural les seins became common only in the 19th century.^[2][4] Donner le sein “to breastfeed” is recorded in 1802, and the word is used of the womb in literary language (1682).^[2]

In the 16th century it took further Latin senses by learned borrowing: “gulf” (le Sein Arabique, 1534) and the belly of a sail (1564, sein d'une voile, 1702).^[2][4]

Timeline

• 1121–34 – Part of the clothing over the chest, le sein d'Abraham.^[2]
• c. 1160 – The front of the chest, seat of the feelings, Eneas.^[2]
• c. 1200 – A woman's chest.^[2]
• 1534 – “Gulf”, le Sein Arabique.^[2]
• Early 16th century – A woman's breast.^[2]
• 1558 – Au sein de, Du Bellay.^[2]
• 1681 – Le sein de l'Église, Bossuet.^[2]
• 1802 – Donner le sein.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A woman's breast: donner le sein, to breastfeed.^[8][1]
2. (literary) The front of the chest, bosom; the heart, as the seat of feelings: serrer quelqu'un contre son sein.^[8][2]
3. (literary) The womb.^[2][1]
4. Le sein de Dieu: heaven, le sein de l'Église, the communion of the faithful.^[8]
5. Au sein de: in the midst of, within: au sein de l'entreprise.^[1][2]
6. (literary) The inner part, depths: le sein de la terre.^[4][2]

Word family

• sénologie

Related words

• sinus
• sinueux
• insinuer

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 v 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. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 650b
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert