tarot

Forms

tarot m (plural tarots)^[1] Middle French tarau (1534), tarault (16th century); tarot from 1564.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian tarocco, mostly used in the plural tarocchi.^[2][3][5] The Italian word is of obscure origin; the usual view is that it comes from tara (“deduction”), the source of French tare, because in this game a player must sometimes set a card aside.^[3][2][5] The Italian noun goes back to Arabic طَرْح (ṭarḥ, “deduction”).^[6][7][1] The Petit Robert calls the Italian word of unknown origin.^[8] The Grand Robert adds Guiraud's view that taroté “marked in grey” is a separate formation, related to tarer “to pierce”.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Rabelais's Gargantua (1534), in jouer au tarau, the name of a card game, and as tarots for the cards in the Cinquiesme Livre (1564).^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Mostly used in the plural, tarots names cards longer than ordinary playing cards, with different figures (the major and minor arcana), used for games and for fortune-telling.^[3][2] The form with -ot was given a new suffix at the start of the 17th century (1604), when the word also came to mean the use and symbolism of the cards.^[3][6] The Académie recorded jouer aux tarots from 1694 and jouer aux tarots ou au tarot from 1835.^[2] The tarot de Marseille is one of the best-known packs.^[3][6]

The derivative taroté (1642) describes a card whose back is decorated with grey compartments like that of tarot cards, and tarotier (1594), the maker of tarot cards, now names the worker who prints the backs of playing cards.^[3][2]

English took tarot from French in the 1590s.^[9]

Timeline

• 1534 – Rabelais writes jouer au tarau.^[2]
• 1564 – Tarots appears in the Cinquiesme Livre.^[2]
• 1590s – English borrows the word.^[9]
• 1594 – Tarotier is recorded.^[3]
• 1604 – The form tarot is used for the use of the cards (Gauchet).^[6][3]
• 1642 – Oudin records tarotté.^[2]
• 1694 – The Académie records jouer aux tarots.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tarot card, longer than an ordinary playing card and bearing symbolic figures, used for games or divination.^[2][8]
2. A pack of 78 such cards: tarot de Marseille.^[2][8][6]
3. The card game played with these cards: jouer au tarot.^[8][4]

Word family

• taroté
• tarotier

Related words

• tare
• Italian tarocco
• English tarot

Usage notes

Littré has a separate tarot as an old name of the bassoon.^[4] Tarot sounds like taraud and taro.^[2][8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com