toilette

Pronunciation

• IPA: /twa.lɛt/^[1]

Forms

toilette f (plural toilettes)^[1] Tellette and teillette (1352); toilette from 1460, thoilette in 1599.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French toile + -ette, “little cloth”,^[2][4][5][1] from Latin tēla (“web, cloth”).^[5] Littré explains the later senses after Laborde: the cloth that held a woman's dressing articles was spread on a table, which took its name, as did the whole business of dressing before it.^[6] Compare Old Occitan teleta (“thin film”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The accounts of Étienne de la Fontaine, silversmith to King John, mention in 1352 tellettes a envelopper, small cloths for wrapping clothes.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It meant a cambric cloth in 1460 and, in butchery, the caul used to wrap certain cuts (1555).^[2] Bloch and Wartburg note that “little cloth” remained the usual sense until the 16th century; hence the marchande à la toilette (1723), a dealer in second-hand clothes and finery, and Lesage's revendeuse à la toilette (1709).^[5][2]

From the end of the 16th century it was the cloth spread on a table for the articles used to wash, do one's hair and adorn oneself (1599, inventory of Gabrielle d'Estrées), then those articles themselves (1661), and the furniture: coffre de toilette (1690), table de toilette (1705), cabinet de toilette (1740).^[2][5] The act of getting ready to appear in public is in the Cardinal de Retz (1679), and Madame de Sévigné writes of the hour when a great lady received visitors at her toilette (1690).^[2]

A woman's dress and finery as a whole is in Restif de la Bretonne (1776), and a particular dress in 1789.^[2] The 19th century added washing and personal care: serviette de toilette (1819), the whole of one's washing (1842), papier de toilette (1902).^[2] La toilette d'un condamné, the preparation of a man for execution, is in Victor Hugo (1829), and Zola uses it for preparing a manuscript (1881).^[2]

Timeline

• 1352 – Tellettes for wrapping clothes.^[2]
• 1555 – The caul in butchery.^[2]
• 1599 – The cloth of a dressing table.^[2]
• 1679 – Getting ready to appear in public (Retz).^[2]
• 1705 – Table de toilette.^[2]
• 1709 – Revendeuse à la toilette, in Lesage.^[2]
• 1740 – Cabinet de toilette.^[2]
• 1776 – A woman's attire.^[2]
• 1800 – Faire un petit brin de toilette.^[2]
• 1842 – Personal washing.^[2]
• 1902 – Papier de toilette.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Washing and grooming oneself: faire sa toilette, gant de toilette, a face flannel, trousse de toilette, a toilet bag, eau de toilette.^[1][2]
2. A woman's outfit, dress: une toilette élégante.^[2][5]
3. Toilettes (plural): the toilet, lavatory, (Belgium, North America) in the singular, la toilette.^[1]
4. (formerly) A dressing table.^[2][5]
5. (butchery) The caul, a fatty membrane used to wrap meat.^[2][7]
6. (dated) A piece of cloth for wrapping goods, marchande à la toilette, a dealer in second-hand clothes.^[7][2]

Related words

• toile
• Latin tela

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 v w x y z 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert