vaisselle

Forms

vaisselle f (uncountable)^[1] Old French veissele, vaissele (about 1155), veiselle;^[2][3] Middle French voiselle, vaisselle.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French veissele, inherited from Vulgar Latin vāscella, the plural of Late Latin vāscellum (“small vessel”) taken as a feminine singular with a collective sense.^[3][4][2][5] This is a diminutive of vās (“vessel”), the source of vaisseau.^[2][1]

Cognate with Spanish vajilla and Catalan vaixella.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Geffrei Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis (about 1140) has veissele, the vessels used to prepare and serve food.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Old French it chiefly meant the rich household plate, silver and gold, of the great.^[6][2] Hence vaisselle plate, made from a single sheet of metal, beside vaisselle montée (1634), and later plate of precious metal.^[2][3] Because plate was money, the word meant “cash” in popular speech in 1773, whence vaisselle de poche “coins” (1810).^[3][2]

As metal dishes became rare, from the early 19th century it meant plates and dishes of china and earthenware.^[2] Since dishes have to be washed, faire la vaisselle (1929) and eau de vaisselle (1842) followed, and the word itself came to mean the washing-up (1882) and the dirty dishes.^[3][2] From the late 15th century it was also used of casks, and vaisselle vinaire (1875) names wine-making equipment.^[3][2]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – Veissele in Geffrei Gaimar.^[3]
• c. 1155 – The form vaissele in Wace's Brut.^[3]
• 14th century – The spelling vaisselle.^[2][7]
• 1634 – Vaisselle plate and vaisselle montée.^[3]
• 1773 – Slang “money”.^[3][8]
• 1842 – Eau de vaisselle in Hugo.^[3]
• 1882 – “Washing-up” in Zola.^[3]
• 1929 – Faire la vaisselle.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Crockery, dishes: the plates, bowls and other vessels used to serve and eat food.^[9][1]
2. Vaisselle d'or, vaisselle d'argent: gold or silver plate.^[9][3]
3. The dirty dishes, and the washing of them: faire la vaisselle, to do the washing-up.^[3][1]

Word family

• lave-vaisselle
• vaisselier

Related words

• vaisseau
• vase

Usage notes

In Quebec, set de vaisselle is used where France says service, and linge à vaisselle means a tea towel.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b 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, 192b
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert