trombone

Forms

trombone m (plural trombones)^[1] An earlier, more French form trombon is recorded from 1573 to Trévoux's dictionary of 1771.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian trombone (“large trumpet”), formed with the augmentative suffix -one from tromba (“trumpet”).^[2][3][4] The Italian word is recorded from the second half of the 14th century, in Sacchetti.^[2] French first took it in a more adapted form, trombon, in Jean-Antoine de Baïf (1573).^[2][3] Rey, Bloch–Wartburg and the Grand Robert date the Italian form from 1703 (Brossard), while the TLFi's first record of it is in the Encyclopédie of 1765.^[3][5][4][2] The Grand Robert and the GLLF take the Italian word for trumpet back to Frankish.^[4][6] It is related to French trompe and trombe.^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Baïf's poetry (1573) trombon names a kind of trumpet;^[2] the Encyclopédie of 1765 explains trombone as the name the Italians give to a kind of trumpet.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word replaced the older French name of the instrument, saquebute.^[3][5] Two kinds came to be distinguished: the slide trombone (trombone à coulisse), which the plain word usually means, and the valve trombone (trombone à pistons), named in 1904.^[3][6] As with other names of instruments, it came to mean the player (1842, in the Académie's supplement).^[2][3]

From the likeness of shape it was applied to a small paper clip of wire bent into two loops, recorded in dictionaries from 1949;^[2][3] Rey notes that this use is peculiar to the French of France, Belgian French saying attache-tout.^[3] About 1960 it also named the flattened oval middle part of a television aerial.^[3][6] Slang built on it the verb tromboner “to have sex with” (1906), from the idea of the slide.^[3]

Timeline

• 1573 – Trombon, a kind of trumpet, appears in Jean-Antoine de Baïf.^[2][3]
• 1703 – Brossard uses the form trombone.^[3][5][4]
• 1765 – The Encyclopédie records trombone as an Italian name of a trumpet.^[2]
• 1771 – Trévoux's dictionary still lists trombon.^[2]
• 1821 – Tromboniste “trombone player” is recorded.^[8]
• 1842 – The Académie's supplement uses it for the player.^[2][6]
• 1889 – Slang faire trombone “pretend to be about to pay” is recorded.^[9]
• 1904 – Trombone à pistons appears in Larousse.^[6]
• 1949 – Dictionaries record the sense “paper clip”.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A trombone, a brass wind instrument whose tube is lengthened and shortened by a slide (trombone à coulisse) or by valves (trombone à pistons): Il joue du trombone dans la fanfare du village.^[8][2][6]
2. A trombone player.^[8][2]
3. A paper clip: Elle a attaché les deux feuilles avec un trombone.^[8][2][1]

Word family

• tromboniste

Related words

• trompe
• trombe
• saquebute

Usage notes

Trombone for a paper clip is the usage of France; in Belgium the clip is called an attache-tout.^[3]

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 l m n o p q 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 e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 380a
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF