tissu

Forms

tissu m (plural tissus)^[1] Middle French tixu (about 1462).^[2]

Etymology

It is the past participle, used as a noun, from Old French tistre (“to weave”), the old verb now replaced by tisser.^[2][3][4][1] The Old French verb continues Latin texō (“to weave”).^[5][6]

Compare Italian tessuto.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first named a woven ribbon forming the strong part of a belt or garter, and a headband: the GLLF and Rey date it to about 1175 in Chrétien de Troyes, the TLFi to about 1200 in Auberee.^[4][7][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century it was used for a gown (tixu, about 1462), before taking its present general sense “woven material” in 1549, in Robert Estienne; from that came “the way the threads are woven” (1770).^[2][4] Tissu-éponge, towelling cloth, is recorded in 1877.^[2][4]

From 1621 it was used figuratively for a tangle of things, often with a bad sense, and for the ordered sequence of a narrative, a use since lost.^[2][4] The word entered biology in the 18th century: tissu cellulaire is dated 1744, and the Encyclopédie used tissu in 1751 for a set of cells of the same structure and function.^[4][8][2] In the 20th century it passed into sociology and town planning, with tissu urbain (1950) and tissu social (about 1965).^[2][4]

The English tissue (late 14th century) was borrowed from the Old French noun, first for a band of rich woven fabric.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it for a woven ribbon or headband.^[7][4]
• c. 1200 – Auberee has it for a woven belt.^[2]
• c. 1462 – Tixu “gown” in the Cent Nouvelles nouvelles.^[2][4]
• 1549 – Robert Estienne records the general sense “woven material”.^[2][7]
• 1621 – First figurative uses.^[2][4]
• 1744 – Tissu cellulaire in anatomy.^[2][8]
• 1770 – “Weave, texture” in Raynal.^[2]
• 1877 – Littré's supplement records tissu-éponge.^[2]
• 1950 – Tissu urbain is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A fabric, a woven or knitted textile: un tissu de laine, tissu imprimé.^[8][2][1]
2. The weave or texture of a fabric.^[2][9]
3. (figurative) A string of (usually bad) things: un tissu de mensonges.^[8][2]
4. (biology) A tissue, a set of cells of the same kind that together perform a function: tissu nerveux, tissu conjonctif.^[8][2][1]
5. (sociology) A coherent whole of elements of the same function: tissu urbain, tissu social.^[8][4][2]

Word family

• tissu-éponge

Related words

• tisser
• tisserand
• tissage
• texture
• Latin texō
• English tissue

Usage notes

The adjective tissu, ue “woven”, numbered separately by the Grand Robert and Littré, is the same old past participle of tistre.^[3][9][4] Used from about 1165, it has been replaced by tissé and survives as a literary archaism and in figurative phrases such as tissu de “made up of”: Lamartine's jours tissus de gloire et d'infortune.^[4][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u 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 c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette