timon

Forms

timon m (plural timons)^[1] Anglo-Norman temon, timun, tymon.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin tīmō (“pole of a cart”), recorded from about 500, among others in Gregory of Tours, an alteration of Classical Latin tēmō (“pole of a chariot or plough, beam”).^[3][4][5][1] Bloch and Wartburg find the origin of the ⟨i⟩ unclear: if the Latin vowel went back to an Indo-European diphthong, the classical form might be Osco-Umbrian and the later one Latin, but the evidence does not decide it.^[5]

Rey notes that the Latin word may come from Gaulish, and that its only other Indo-European counterparts are Old Norse þísl and Old Prussian teansis, all perhaps from the root Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to stretch”) of tendre¹.^[4] Cognate with Italian timone, Occitan timó, Catalan timó, Spanish timón and Portuguese timão, which almost everywhere also name the rudder.^[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1150 in the Roman de Thèbes, for the long pole fixed to the front of a cart or plough, with a draught animal harnessed on either side.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

The word kept the Latin sense.^[4] In seafaring it named the tiller of a ship and, by extension, the rudder itself (1265, in Brunetto Latini's Trésor), a use still current in the classical period.^[3][4][7] Like the rudder, it stood figuratively for power (about 1240), as in le timon de l'État (1623), now archaic.^[3][4]

From the nautical sense come timonier “helmsman” (early 13th century, earlier tomonier) and timonerie (1791).^[4][5] In modern use the word also names the metal drawbar of a trailer.^[8][9]

Timeline

• c. 1150 – First record, in the Roman de Thèbes.^[3]
• c. 1240 – Used figuratively for power.^[3]
• 1265 – Brunetto Latini uses it for a ship's rudder.^[3]
• 1623 – Le timon de l'État.^[3][4]
• 1791 – The derivative timonerie.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The pole or shaft at the front of a cart, carriage or plough, on either side of which a draught animal is harnessed.^[8][9][10]
2. The metal drawbar at the front of a trailer, ending in a coupling ring.^[8][9]
3. (dated, nautical) The tiller; the rudder itself.^[8][9][10]
4. (figurative, archaic) The direction of something likened to a ship: le timon de l'État.^[11][4]

Word family

• timonier
• timonerie

Related words

• Latin tēmō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette