tente

Forms

tente f (plural tentes)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *tenta, the feminine of tentus (“stretched”), past participle of tendō (“to stretch”), used as a noun, or else from *tendita, the feminine of a popular participle *tenditus.^[2][3][4][5] Bloch and Wartburg note that the Romance forms with /d/ were remade on the stem of the verb.^[6] Rey's dictionary instead treats it as borrowed from Old Occitan tenda about 1130, from a Medieval Latin tenda formed on tēnsum, one of the supines of the same verb.^[7] Wiktionary gives both explanations.^[1]

Cognate with Italian tenda, Spanish tienda and Portuguese tenda.^[2][1][8] The REW also lists Romanian tindă “porch, hall”.^[9][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1160 in the Roman d'Eneas, meaning a portable shelter of cloth stretched on supports.^[2][10] Rey notes that it was at first a military word, and was used of nomadic peoples later.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From the late 14th century until the 18th century tente also meant a set of tapestries that decorated a room and made it look like a tent.^[7][2] At sea it named an awning stretched over part of a ship (1622), and in the 19th century the awning over a shop front (1838).^[2][7]

Figurative uses appear in the 19th century: la tente du ciel (1818), planter sa tente “to set up, settle” (1831) and dresser sa tente “to live” (1846).^[2] Littré records se retirer sous sa tente, to withdraw from a cause out of pique, an allusion to Achilles sulking in his tent.^[8][5] Anatomy calls a fold of the dura mater the tente du cervelet (1805), and the 20th century added the tente à oxygène.^[2][7] Today the word is used above all of campers' tents.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1160 – First record, in the Roman d'Eneas.^[2]
• Late 14th century – A set of decorative tapestries.^[2][7]
• 1622 – An awning on a ship.^[2][7]
• 1805 – Anatomical sense, in Cuvier.^[2]
• 1818 – La tente du ciel, in Maine de Biran.^[2]
• 1838 – A shop awning, in Stendhal.^[2]
• c. 1840 – The compound tente-abri.^[7]
• 20th century – Tente à oxygène.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tent, a portable shelter of flexible material stretched over poles and pegs: monter une tente, une tente de camping.^[4][11][5]
2. Se retirer sous sa tente: to withdraw from a cause or party out of pique.^[5][8]
3. Tente à oxygène: an oxygen tent placed over a patient.^[11][5][7]
4. (anatomy) Tente du cervelet: the fold of the dura mater between the cerebellum and the cerebrum.^[12][2]
5. (nautical) An awning stretched over a ship's deck.^[2][7]

Word family

• tente-abri

Related words

• tendre¹
• tenture
• Latin tendō

Usage notes

The Grand Robert has a second tente, a deverbal noun of tendre¹ recorded in 1271: the GLLF defines it as the setting of fishing nets, a barrier guiding fish into a trap, and a net for birds of passage.^[3][10] Littré has another tente, from tenter in its old sense “to probe”, a roll of lint put into a wound, and the REW lists this word under Latin temptō.^[8][13] In Quebec a tente-roulotte is a caravan with canvas walls.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8639
10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
12. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
13. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8633