taupe

Forms

taupe f (plural taupes)^[1] Anglo-Norman talpe and taulpe.^[2] Littré cites Picard teupe.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French taupe, inherited from Latin talpa (“mole”).^{[4][5][6][7][1]} The Latin word, found from Varro on, was masculine (compare Catalan talp, Spanish topo) and became feminine under the influence of feminine nouns in ⟨-a⟩.^[6] It has no known etymology, as often with the names of small animals.^[6] Wartburg supposes it was taken from a pre-Latin language, perhaps as a derivative of a word ⟨*tala⟩ “earth”; the Franco-Provençal and Occitan type darbon would go back to the same stem.^[8][6]

Littré also cites Occitan, Catalan and Italian talpa.^[3] Gascon kept būfō instead, and the north-east and east of France used fouant, the present participle of fouir, from the Middle Ages.^[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1250 in Richard de Fournival's Bestiaire d'amour, for the mole that sees nothing because its eyes are under the skin.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The animal's poor sight gave myope comme une taupe, and its life underground le royaume des taupes “the earth, the grave” (1579), as in aller visiter le royaume des taupes “to die”.^[6][9] By metonymy it names the animal's fur (1935, Académie).^[6] From the late 18th century it was used of a burrowing sea worm (taupe de mer, 1765) and of a shark (1779).^[4][6]

The same idea of underground work gave taupe “a sly, dangerous man acting in secret” (1798), later obsolete, a sapper in army slang (1886), a planted spy (about 1950) and a tunnel-boring machine (1973).^[4][6][9] The colour adjective, for a brownish grey, is recorded in 1840 (couleur taupe) and 1909 (gris taupe).^[4][6] English borrowed the colour name as taupe in 1906.^[10] A pejorative vieille taupe “unpleasant old woman” is recorded from 1719.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – Richard de Fournival writes of la taupe in the Bestiaire d'amour.^[4]
• 1579 – Le royaume des taupes is recorded for the grave.^[6]
• 1765 – Taupe de mer names a sea worm.^[4][6]
• 1798 – The Académie records it for a sly, secretive man.^[4]
• 1840 – Couleur taupe is recorded.^[4]
• 1886 – Army slang uses it for a sapper.^[6]
• 1906 – English taupe is first recorded.^[10]
• c. 1950 – It is used for an infiltrated spy.^[6]
• 1973 – It names a tunnel-boring machine.^[6][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mole, a small burrowing mammal with tiny eyes that digs tunnels underground.^[11][4]
2. (figurative) Vieille taupe: an unpleasant old woman.^[11][6]
3. The short silky fur of the mole.^[11]
4. A large ocean shark, the porbeagle.^[11]
5. (technical) A tunnel-boring machine.^[11]
6. (familiar) A spy planted in the milieu he watches.^[11][1]

Adjective

1. Of a brownish grey colour, taupe.^[11][1]

Word family

• taupe-grillon
• taupicide
• taupier
• taupière
• taupinière
• taupin

Related words

• Latin talpa
• English taupe

Usage notes

In school slang taupe is also the class of mathematics preparing for the grandes écoles, especially Polytechnique (être en taupe); the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert treat it as a separate word, first recorded in 1888 for the body of taupins and formed from taupin.^[7][11][4] Taupin itself is formed on taupe: first a sapper who mined the walls of a town (15th century), then a student preparing for Polytechnique (1841).^[6][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b 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 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/1, 61b
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert