tramer

Forms

tramer^[1] Old French traimer, tremer;^[2][3] traimer (1611) and tremer (1680) are still noted in the 17th century before going out of use.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *trāmō, a verb formed already in Late Latin from trāma (“weft”).^[4][5][2][6] The verb kept its ⟨a⟩ and in turn made the noun, Old French traime, treme, take the modern form trame.^[2] Wiktionary instead analyses it as a French formation from the noun with the verb ending.^[1]

Cognate with Italian tramare, Catalan tramar, Spanish tramar and Portuguese tramar,^[4][7] which share the figurative sense “to plot” with French.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in a 13th-century manuscript of the Dit des outils de l'ostel, is the weaver's sense: to weave cloth by passing the weft through the warp.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense “to plot, hatch in secret” is recorded from 1596, though Rey thinks it is probably older than its first attestation;^[2][9] the reflexive se tramer “to be hatched, be afoot” follows in 1792, in Beaumarchais's La Mère coupable.^[4][10] The weaving sense has meanwhile fallen out of everyday use, so that the verb is now felt apart from the noun trame.^[2]

In the 20th century, after a new use of trame, the verb became a term of photoengraving (1935), to print an image through a screen;^[4][2] this sense lives mainly in the adjective tramé, which had been used in weaving since 1306.^[2]

Timeline

• 13th century – Traimme “weaves” appears in the Dit des outils de l'ostel.^[4]
• 1306 – Guillaume Guiart writes of euvres tremées, woven works.^[4]
• 1313 – The derivative tremeur “weaver” is recorded in the Paris tax roll.^[4][2]
• 1596 – First record of the sense “to plot in secret”.^[2][9]
• 1792 – Beaumarchais uses the reflexive: Il se trame ici quelque horreur.^[4]
• 1935 – Recorded as a term of photoengraving.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To weave (a fabric) by crossing the weft threads with the warp stretched on the loom.^[11][4]
2. (photography) To print or enlarge (an image) through a screen.^[11][9]
3. (figurative) To plot or hatch in secret: tramer une évasion.^[11][12]
4. Se tramer: to be afoot, be plotted; impersonally il se trame quelque chose, something is brewing.^[11][12]

Word family

• trameur

Related words

• trame
• Latin trāma

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 196a
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
11. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette