tournoi

Forms

tournoi m (plural tournois)^[1] Old French tornei (about 1130), turnei (about 1165) and tornoi (about 1175), then tournoi from the early 13th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from French tournoyer (“to turn round, to take part in a tournament”), from Old French tornoi.^[4][1][5] That verb is formed from tourner with the suffix -oyer,^[4][1] and tourner comes from Latin tornō (“to turn on a lathe”).^[6]

Cognate with Old Occitan tornei, Italian torneo and Spanish torneo.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is in the Roman d'Eneas (about 1160);^[4] the Grand Robert and the GLLF date that text about 1130 and give its form tornei the general sense “combat”.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

From the general sense of “fight”, the word narrowed about 1165 to a combat between several knights in a closed field.^[3][2] Rey describes the tournament as an old custom, perhaps first a judgement of God, which arose in the 11th century and spread in the 12th and 13th: at first a bloody fight between opposing bands, it was gradually ritualised, kept for knights alone and fought with blunted weapons, and by the end of the Middle Ages it had become a society sport, a series of strictly regulated single jousts, until the carousel replaced it.^[3] The word also meant “the action of turning round” (about 1298).^[3]

At the end of the 16th century, in Agrippa d'Aubigné, it took the figurative sense of a contest of emulation, such as a battle of words.^[3][2] Larousse recorded it in 1876 for the carousels that followed the knightly jousts,^[2] and in modern use it has spread to games and sports, for a competition played in several rounds.^[3][2]

English tourney (about 1300) comes from the Anglo-Norman and Old French forms of the word.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1160 – First record, in the Roman d'Eneas.^[4]
• c. 1165 – Thomas uses turnei for a combat between knights.^[2]
• c. 1175 – Chrétien de Troyes writes tornoi.^[2]
• Early 13th century – The spelling tournoi appears in Audefroi le Bastard.^[2][7]
• c. 1298 – It is used for “the action of turning round”.^[3]
• c. 1300 – English tourney is recorded.^[8]
• Late 16th century – Agrippa d'Aubigné uses it figuratively.^[2]
• 1876 – Larousse records it for the later carousels.^[2]
• 1964 – Larousse records the sense “competition in several rounds”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history) A tournament: a combat between several knights in a closed field, fought with blunted weapons.^[9][2]
2. (figurative, literary) A contest of emulation between rivals.^[9][7]
3. A competition played in several rounds or heats: un tournoi de pétanque.^[9][1]

Related words

• tournoyer
• tourner
• tournoiement
• Latin tornō
• English tourney

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d 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
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert