Etymologically
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voûte

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Pronunciation

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

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