urne

Forms

urne f (plural urnes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin urna (“large water jar, ballot urn, cinerary urn, a measure”).^[2][3][4][5] Rey thinks the Latin word is probably of the same family as urceus (“jug with handles”), kept in Italian orcio “jar”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is from 1374, in Jean Goulain's translation of Durand's Rationale, where the manna was kept in a vessel appelee urne, a large vase.^[2] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has urne “urn, vessel” already at the beginning of the 13th century.^[6] Rey and Bloch–Wartburg date the word to 1487, the cinerary urn.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

After the large vase and the urn holding the ashes of the dead (1487), the word took up other senses of the Latin, speaking of Antiquity: the round-bellied vessel used to draw water (1503) and, in the 16th and 17th centuries, a measure of capacity (1551).^[2][3]

The ancient vessel in which votes were collected or lots drawn is recorded in 1549, in Robert Estienne;^[2][3] in the 19th century this sense was applied to the modern ballot box (urne du scrutin, 1845),^[2][4] whence aller aux urnes “to vote”, recorded in the 20th century.^[3][7] In botany it names the capsule of the spore case of mosses (1798),^[2][3] and in statistics (1967) a sample.^[3]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – Anglo-Norman urne “urn, vessel”.^[6]
• 1374 – A large vase, in Jean Goulain's translation of Durand.^[2]
• 1487 – A vessel for the ashes of the dead.^[2][3][4]
• 1503 – An ancient vessel for drawing water.^[2][3]
• 1549 – Robert Estienne records the ancient voting urn.^[2][3]
• 1551 – A Roman measure of capacity.^[2][3]
• 1798 – Ventenat uses it in botany.^[2]
• 1845 – Urne du scrutin “ballot box”.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A vessel holding the ashes of a dead person: urne funéraire, urne cinéraire.^[8][2]
2. A round-bellied vase;^[8][2] (poetic) any vessel.^[8][2]
3. A box with a slot in its lid into which ballots are dropped, a ballot box: la mairie a installé trois urnes.^[8][2][1]
4. Aller aux urnes: to go to the polls, to vote.^[8][3]
5. (botany) The capsule of the sporange of mosses.^[8][2]

Related words

• Latin urna
• English urn

Usage notes

Bourrer les urnes is to stuff ballot boxes, slipping in ballots before the poll opens.^[8]

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 r 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 63b
6. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
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