tourelle

Forms

tourelle f (plural tourelles)^[1] Old French touriele (about 1175), turiele (1238), Middle French turelle (1373); the spelling tourelle is found from 1530 (Palsgrave).^[2][3][4] The variants tornele (about 1165) and tournelle (about 1320, used until the 17th century) survive in place names.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is formed from French tour¹ + -elle, a diminutive of the noun for a tower.^[3][6][5][7] That noun is from Latin turris.^[5] The variant tournelle was altered under the influence of tourner, and tornele perhaps under that of torn (“turn”).^[5][4] Littré compares Walloon touret.^[7] Old French also had another diminutive, torel (“small tower”) (about 1150).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Littré quotes the 12th-century tourieles of Chrétien de Troyes, in a description of five small towers, the sense “small tower”.^[7][2] The TLFi's first record is turiele in 1238, in a document from the Nord.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word kept the sense of a small tower, especially one built on corbels at the corner of a building or along a rampart.^[2][7][8] In 1680 Richelet records it for the cylindrical parts that flank an organ case.^[3][4]

Littré (1872) records it for the small iron tower above the deck of some armoured ships, sheltering the captain or heavy guns, whence the armoured shelter for artillery in fortifications, warships and tanks.^[3][4][7][8] In the 20th century it also named the revolving lens mount of a camera and the tool holder of a machine tool.^[4][8] The rare adjective tourelé “bearing towers” is derived from it (1562 according to Rey, 1578 according to the TLFi).^[4][3]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – Touriele appears in Chrétien de Troyes.^[2][6][4]
• 1238 – Turiele “small tower” is recorded in a document from the Nord.^[3]
• 1373 – The form turelle is recorded.^[3][6]
• 1530 – The spelling tourelle appears in Palsgrave.^[2][4]
• 1680 – Richelet records the sense for part of an organ case.^[3]
• 1872 – Littré records the armoured turret of a warship.^[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small tower, often one corbelled out from the corner of a building; a turret.^[8][3][7]
2. (music) A cluster of pipes on the front of an organ case.^[8][7]
3. (military) An armoured shelter, fixed or revolving, for one or more guns, as on a fortification, a warship or a tank.^[8][3][1]
4. (cinema) A revolving mount carrying several lenses on a camera.^[8]
5. The conning tower of a submarine.^[1]

Word family

• tourelé

Related words

• tour¹
• Latin turris

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert