serge

Forms

serge f (plural serges)^[1] Old French sarge; the form serge appears in 1360, and sarge was still in use in the 17th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French sarge, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sarica, an alteration of Latin sērica (“silk fabrics, silken garments”), the plural of sēricum (“silk”), from the adjective sēricus (“silken”).^[4][3][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg call the alteration poorly explained.^[2] The Latin adjective is from Ancient Greek σηρικός (sērikós), from the name of the Seres, an Asian people who produced silk, probably the Chinese.^[4][3] The modern vowel ⟨e⟩ is a reshaping of 1360.^[3][5]

The Vulgar Latin form also gave Romanian sarica (“a coarse woollen cloth”) and Spanish sarga and Old Occitan sarga; Italian sargia comes from French.^[2][4] Littré, besides Diez's derivation from the Latin word for silk fabrics, reports a derivation from an Arabic word and one from Latin sarciō (“to mend”), neither followed today.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

As sarge, it appears in Chrétien de Troyes' Erec et Enide (1165–70), for a light twilled fabric, usually of wool.^[4][8]

Semantic evolution

The name went from a silk fabric to a cheaper woollen one: from the 12th century it named a light, twilled cloth usually of wool.^[3][4] By metonymy it was a bedcover (14th century) and a wall hanging (about 1400), and in 1504 sarge de soie named a silk fabric woven in the same way.^[3][8] Serge du Seigneur was a very fine serge of the 16th and 17th centuries.^[4][8]

Littré quotes Chifflet's grammar, saying that the people said serge and the court sarge.^[7] The English word serge was taken from Old French sarge, serge in the late 14th century.^[9]

Timeline

• 1165–70 – Sarge appears in Chrétien de Troyes' Erec et Enide.^[4]
• 1255 – Sargier “serge maker” is recorded.^[3]
• 1352 – The diminutive sargete names a thin woollen cloth.^[4][3]
• 1360 – The spelling serge appears, in the municipal accounts of Tours.^[4][8]
• Late 14th century – English borrows it as sarge.^[9]
• 1504 – Sarge de soie names a silk fabric.^[3][8]
• 1605 – The form sergette is recorded.^[4]
• 1820 – The noun sergé is recorded.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Serge, a twill fabric with fine diagonal ribs, usually of wool, une jupe de serge grise.^[10][4][11]
2. A silk fabric woven like woollen serge.^[8][7]
3. (historical) Serge du Seigneur: a very fine serge used in the 16th and 17th centuries.^[4][8]

Word family

• sergé
• sergette
• serger

Related words

• Latin sēricus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ 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
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 511b
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)