troupe

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tʁup/^[1]

Forms

troupe f (plural troupes)^[1] Old French trope (1178), a spelling kept until the second half of the 15th century, troupe from 1538 (Robert Estienne).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

The TLFi and Wiktionary make it a back-formation from troupeau, Old French tropel.^[5][1] Rey and the GLLF see in it either a form built on that word or the feminine form of an unattested Old French noun *trop (“gathering”), the source of the latter, represented by Medieval Latin truppus, troppus (“herd”) (about 700).^[2][3] That noun probably comes, by metathesis, from Frankish *thorp (“village”) (compare German Dorf), which also gave trop.^[2][4][3][6] Littré reports Diez's view that Latin turba (“crowd”) lies behind it.^[7]

The word passed to Italian truppa and Spanish tropa.^[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Roman de Renart (1178) uses trope for a large group of animals.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

About 1220 Robert de Clari uses it for a gathering of people moving or acting together, a sense that has aged, en troupe dates from 1553.^[5][2] From 1477 it is a body of armed men ready to fight, from 1636 (plural) the soldiers of an army, and, from 1803 la troupe, the soldiers as opposed to officers, whence homme de troupe and enfant de troupe (1833).^[5][2] Hugo (1862) uses it for the armed force sent to restore order.^[5]

A company of actors is a troupe from 1607 according to Rey (1662 in the TLFi, troupe de comédiens, Molière, 1663), and a scout troop from 1928.^[2][5][9] The old sense “herd of animals” went out of use at the end of the 17th century.^[2] English took troupe “company of performers” in 1825, beside the older troop.^[10]

Timeline

• 1178 – Trope “herd”, Roman de Renart.^[5]
• c. 1220 – A group of people, Robert de Clari.^[5]
• 1477 – A body of soldiers.^[5]
• 1538 – The spelling troupe, Robert Estienne.^[2]
• 1636 – Les troupes, an army's soldiers, Monet.^[5]
• 1662 – A company of actors.^[5]
• 1928 – A scout troop.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (military) A troop, body of soldiers, (plural) troops, forces: envoyer des troupes.^[11][1]
2. La troupe: the rank and file, as opposed to officers: homme de troupe; the army or police sent to keep order.^[5][2]
3. A company of actors or performers: une troupe de théâtre.^[5][11]
4. (dated) A band, group of people: une troupe d'enfants, en troupe, all together.^[11]
5. A group of animals of the same kind: une troupe de singes.^[11]
6. A scout troop.^[5]

Word family

• troupier

Related words

• troupeau
• trop
• attrouper
• English troupe

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b 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 l m n o 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
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 397b
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert