soubassement

Forms

soubassement m (plural soubassements)^[1] Middle French subassement (1358), later soubastement and soubzbaissement in the 16th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French sous- (“under”) + bas (“low”) + -ment.^[2][1][4] Rey notes that the suffix recalls the architectural term Italian basamento (“base of a column”), which passed through Dutch into English as basement.^[4] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert instead derive it from Old French sous-basse;^[5][6] the TLFi compares the Middle French soubasse (“pedestal”), recorded from 1399 to 1680, which soon fell out of use.^[2][4] Littré found the formation unclear and thought the variant soubastement came from bâtiment with the same prefix.^[3]

The adjective is from Late Latin bassus, a Late Latin word of obscure origin, found in its French sense in the 7th-century glosses of Saint Gall and earlier meaning “thick, fat”.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded as subassement in a document of 18 September 1358 from the archives of the Côte-d'Or, quoted by Godefroy.^[2][4] A 15th-century account of Charles VIII's journey to Naples describes a stable built à hauts pilliers et grands soubassemens “with high pillars and great bases”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the start it was a building term: the lower, solid part of a structure on which the whole edifice seems to rest.^[4][8] In the 16th century Amyot used soubastement figuratively, of a firm foundation of reason built by good teaching.^[3]

In the 17th century the word entered furnishing: it named the band of cloth or tapestry hung around the base of a bed (1604), which Nicot in 1606 described as the valance stretched between the bedposts below the mattress, and the piece of tapestry placed in front of a window's sill.^[4][2][8] Mme de Sévigné uses the bed sense in 1675.^[8] Littré also records joinery and chimney senses.^[3] In the 20th century geology took it up for the basement rock on which strata rest,^[4][8] and it is used figuratively for the base or foundation of anything.^[6][9]

Timeline

• 1358 – Subassement appears in a document from the Côte-d'Or.^[2][4]
• 1399 – The related Middle French soubasse “pedestal” is recorded.^[2][4]
• 16th century – Amyot writes soubastement, literally and figuratively.^[3]
• 1604 – First used of the cloth band around the base of a bed.^[4]
• 1606 – Nicot defines the soubassement de lict.^[2]
• 1675 – Mme de Sévigné uses the bed sense.^[8]
• 1690 – Furetière records the tapestry piece in front of a window sill.^[8]
• 20th century – Geology uses it for the rock underlying strata.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (architecture) The lower, solid part of a building or structure, resting on the foundations and supporting what is above; the base of a column or statue.^[6][2][9]
2. The lower part of the walls of a room or of a window.^[6]
3. (geology) The basement rock on which overlying layers rest.^[6][9]
4. (figurative) A base or foundation: le soubassement économique d'une réforme.^[6][9]
5. (historical) A band of cloth or tapestry around the base of a bed.^[8][3]

Related words

• bas
• sous
• Late Latin bassus

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 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 j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
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 c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)