tavernier

Forms

tavernier m (plural taverniers, feminine tavernière)^[1] Old French tavrenier (about 1200); feminine taverniere (about 1210).^[2][3] Anglo-Norman spellings include taverner and tavernor.^[4]

Etymology

It is formed from French taverne + -ier.^[2][3][1] The TLFi compares Latin tabernārius (“shopkeeper”), and the Grand Robert, the Petit Robert, Littré and Wiktionary take the word straight from it;^{[2][5][6][7][1]} the GLLF and the DHLF allow both and the GLLF prefers the French derivation.^[8][3] The Latin noun is from taberna (“shop, booth”), the source of taverne.^[5][7]

Cognate with Old Occitan tavernier, Spanish tabernero, Portuguese taberneiro and Italian tavernaio.^[7][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is tavrenier in the Jeu de saint Nicolas (about 1200), for the keeper of a taverne;^[2][3] the feminine taverniere follows in Raoul de Houdenc's Songe d'enfer about 1210.^[2] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary dates its first insular record to 1175.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In medieval Paris anyone with the means could keep a tavern by paying the king's dues, says the Livre des métiers,^[7] and Littré notes the old distinction between the tavernier who sold wine by the pot and the cabaretier who also served meals.^[7]

From 1564 the noun was also used of a man who haunted taverns (of a woman from 1611); the adjective, “of the tavern” (1582), has gone out of use like that sense.^[3] The noun itself survives in historical writing,^[3][2] and jokingly for the owner of a café or restaurant.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – Tavrenier in the Jeu de saint Nicolas.^[2][3]
• c. 1210 – The feminine taverniere in the Songe d'enfer.^[2]
• 1564 – Used of a man who frequents taverns.^[3]
• 1582 – First use as an adjective.^[3]
• 1611 – Used of a woman who frequents taverns.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) A person who kept a tavern, a taverner.^[2][6][8]
2. (humorous) The owner of a café or small restaurant.^[6]

Related words

• taverne
• Latin tabernārius
• Latin taberna

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter