taverne

Forms

taverne f (plural tavernes)^[1] Old French also has tavierne.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin taberna (“booth, hut, shop, inn”).^{[3][4][5][6][1]} The Latin word has no known etymology and may be Etruscan;^[5] Littré related it to tabula.^[2] The other Romance languages keep the sense “inn”: Italian taverna, Old Occitan taverna and Spanish taberna.^[5][7] The sense of an eating house in the English-speaking world was taken from English tavern, itself borrowed from French.^[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Chrétien de Troyes's Chevalier de la charrette (1176–1181), for a place where one drinks for money.^[3][9]

Semantic evolution

The tavern was often a place of ill repute: the Ménagier de Paris (1393) calls it “the devil's church”.^[3][2] The word is one of the names for public places of eating and drinking that gave way to café and restaurant.^[5] From 1825 (Chateaubriand) it renders English tavern for an inn in England or the United States, and in Canada its sense of a beer hall for men is also a calque of English.^[3][5] In the old navy it named the store-room where wine and food were kept and sold to the crew (1672).^[3][5] English had borrowed the Old French word as tavern about 1300.^[10]

Timeline

• 1176–1181 – Taverne appears in Chrétien de Troyes's Chevalier de la charrette.^[3]
• c. 1200 – The derivative tavernier is recorded as tavrenier.^[5]
• c. 1300 – English tavern is recorded.^[10]
• 1393 – The Ménagier de Paris calls the tavern the devil's church.^[3][2]
• 1672 – It names a ship's store-room.^[3]
• 1825 – Chateaubriand uses it of an eating house in America.^[3][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) A tavern, a public place where people ate and drank for money.^[11][3]
2. A small café or popular restaurant in some countries; in Canada, a beer hall once reserved for men.^[11][5]
3. A café-restaurant with an old-fashioned, rustic style.^[11]
4. (nautical, historical) A ship's store-room where wine and food were sold to the crew.^[3][9]

Word family

• tavernier

Related words

• Latin taberna
• English tavern

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/1, 12a
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 18, 122b
9. ^ a b 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert