voûte

Pronunciation

• IPA: /vut/^[1]

Forms

voûte f (plural voûtes)^[1] Old French volte (about 1135), voste (about 1213), voute (1273); voûte from the Académie of 1740.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French volte, inherited from Vulgar Latin *volvita, the feminine used as a noun of *volvitus, a reshaping of classical Latin volūtus, the past participle of volvō (“to roll, turn”).^{[2][3][5][6][1][7]} Medieval Latin has “voluta” “vault” (about 1213).^[2]

Compare Italian volta and Spanish bóveda; English vault was borrowed from the old sense “vaulted room”.^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Couronnement de Louis (about 1135) has volte for a vaulted room, a sense used until the 16th century; the Roman d'Énéas (about 1160) uses it for an arched roof.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The architectural sense, a curved stone covering resting on walls or pillars, is the main one: voûte en berceau, en plein cintre, clef de voûte “keystone”.^[8][4] From the 17th century it took figurative senses: la voûte azurée, la voûte céleste, the sky (La Fontaine, 1678–1679),^[2][4] and in anatomy the voûte du palais and voûte plantaire (1690).^[2][8]

In Quebec, by calque of English vault, voûte is a bank's strongroom.^[3] The verb voûter “to vault; to bend” is from the 13th century.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1135 – Volte, a vaulted room.^[2][4]
• c. 1160 – An arched roof (Énéas).^[2]
• c. 1213 – Voste.^[2]
• 1349 – Vote chintree, a round arch.^[2]
• 1678–1679 – Voûte azurée “the sky”.^[2]
• 1690 – Anatomical and nautical senses.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A vault, an arched masonry roof: clef de voûte.^[8][1]
2. An arch or arched covering.^[1]
3. (literary) The sky: la voûte céleste.^[8][2]
4. (anatomy) Voûte du palais, the roof of the mouth;^[8] voûte plantaire, the arch of the foot.^[8][2]

Word family

• voûter

Related words

• volte
• Latin volvō
• English vault

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 620b
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert