tombeau

Forms

tombeau m (plural tombeaux)^[1] Old French tumblel, tombel and tumbel;^[2][3][4][5] tombeau is found from the 13th century.^[2][3][4][5] The Anglo-Norman forms include tombeal.^[6]

Etymology

It is formed from French tombe + -eau, a diminutive, first as Old French tumblel and tombel.^[2][5][1][7] tombe is from Late Latin tumba, found in Prudentius in the 4th century, which is from Ancient Greek τύμβος (túmbos, “burial mound”).^[7][8][1] Littré instead explains it as a diminutive of a Late Latin tumbus (“tomb”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1155 Wace's Brut has tumblel for a funeral monument; about 1160 the Roman d'Eneas has tombel.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Like tombe, the word came to stand for death itself, first in phrases such as jusqu'au tombeau “until death” (1573).^[5][2] Others followed: mettre au tombeau (1550 figuratively, 1553 literally), descendre au tombeau “to die” (1604), suivre au tombeau (1612) and aux portes du tombeau (1619 as à la porte du tombeau).^[2]

From 1551 a tombeau was also a poem or collection of poems in honour of a dead person; from the first half of the 17th century it was also a piece of music dedicated to one; the genre was common in the 17th and 18th centuries and revived in the 20th, notably by Ravel for Couperin.^[2][5] In 18th-century furniture en tombeau or à tombeau described pieces shaped like a tomb (lit à tombeau, 1719).^[2][9]

Figuratively it meant the place or time where someone or something perished (1558) and what causes death or ruin (1640); since 1832 it has also meant a dark, gloomy place.^[2][5] À tombeau ouvert “at breakneck speed” is recorded from 1798, and a very discreet person is un tombeau (tombeau des secrets, 1894).^[2][5]

Timeline

• c. 1155 – Tumblel in Wace's Brut.^[2]
• c. 1160 – Tombel in the Roman d'Eneas.^[2]
• 13th century – The form tombeau appears.^[4][5]
• 1551 – Le Tombeau de Marguerite de Valois, a collection of poems in honour of the dead queen.^[2]
• 1573 – Jusqu'au pied du tombeau “until death”.^[2][5]
• 1604 – Descendre au tombeau “to die”.^[2]
• 1719 – Lit à tombeau, a bed shaped like a tomb.^[2]
• 1798 – À tombeau ouvert “at breakneck speed”.^[2][5]
• 1832 – Hugo uses it for a gloomy place.^[2]
• 1894 – Tombeau des secrets “a very discreet person”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A funeral monument over the grave of one or more dead people; a tomb.^[10][2][3]
2. Mise au tombeau: a representation of the entombment of Christ.^[10][2]
3. (furniture) En tombeau: curved or bulging in shape, of a drawer or chest.^[10][2]
4. (figurative) A symbol of death: descendre au tombeau, to die, jusqu'au tombeau, until death.^[10][2]
5. À tombeau ouvert: at a dangerously high speed: Il descendait la côte à tombeau ouvert.^[10][2]
6. (literary) A closed, dark, gloomy place: Cette chambre est un vrai tombeau.^[10][2]
7. Le tombeau de…: a poem or piece of music written in honour of a dead person, such as Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin.^[10][5]
8. (figurative) A very discreet person, who keeps secrets.^[2]

Related words

• tombe
• tombelle
• tombal
• outre-tombe
• Late Latin tumba

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 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 c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert