terrasse
Pronunciation
Forms
terrasse f (plural terrasses)[1] Old French terrace (about 1160), tierrasse (about 1190); terrasse from the end of the 13th century (1295).[2]
Etymology
It is derived from terre with the suffix ⟨-ace⟩, later ⟨-asse⟩.[2][3][4] The noun continues Latin terra (“earth”).[5][3] For the modern sense “raised platform”, Bloch and Wartburg and the REW see a borrowing from Old Occitan terrassa, and Wiktionary an influence of it;[6][5][1][2] Rey speaks of a parallel development rather than a borrowing.[6][5][1][2] The Spanish, English and German words come from the French.[6]
Earliest recorded meaning
Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie (about 1165) uses terrace for wattle and daub, mud; the word long meant fuller's earth, daub and the soil.[4][2]
Semantic evolution
That first sense survives in technical uses: the soft part of a block of marble (1694) or of a gem (1752) that cannot be polished.[4][2] About 1260 the Ménestrel de Reims uses it for the platform of a fortification, a bank of earth, and in 1295 it named the flat covering of a roof.[4][2] In 1380 it meant the flat base of a statue, and in heraldry (1765) the ground shown at the foot of a shield.[2][3] From 1549 it was a raised bank of earth in a garden or in front of a building, and, from Belleau (before 1577) a platform on an upper floor of a house.[2][7] Villiers de l'Isle-Adam in 1883 uses it for the part of a café that spills onto the pavement.[4][7] Geographers and mountaineers use it for a step in the land (1853).[8][2]
Timeline
- c. 1165 – Terrace, daub, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.[4]
- c. 1260 – The platform of a fortification.[4]
- 1295 – A flat roof.[4][2]
- 1549 – A raised garden bank.[2]
- Before 1577 – A platform of a house, in Belleau.[2]
- 1853 – Terraces in the Alps.[8]
- 1883 – A café terrace, in Villiers de l'Isle-Adam.[4]
Meanings
Noun
- A raised bank of earth forming a platform, usually held by masonry: les terrasses d'un jardin, cultures en terrasses.[9][10]
- An open-air platform on a floor of a building, set back from the floor below; a terrace, a large balcony: appartement avec terrasse.[9][10]
- A flat roof: toit en terrasse.[10][7]
- The part of a café or restaurant set out on the pavement.[10][4]
- (geography) A step-like landform: terrasse fluviale.[9][7]
- (art, technology) The flat base of a statue; a soft patch in marble.[9][4]
Word family
- terrasser
- terrassement
- terrassier
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
- ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
- ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)