volée

Forms

volée f (plural volées)^[1] Old French volee, first in the phrase de volee “in flight”.^[2] Middle French also wrote vollee (1575) and vollée (1666).^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from French voler (“to fly”), as the noun use of its feminine past participle.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} The verb is from Latin volō (“to fly”).^[6][1]

Cognate with Walloon volaie, Occitan volada and Italian volata.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1135 in the Couronnement de Louis, in de volee “in flight”, said of a sparrowhawk that could have flown through an opening.^[2][8] About 1190 the Vengement Alixandre speaks of falcons a volee.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is the act of flying; from the early 13th century it was also the distance a bird covers in one flight.^[2][8] Phrases followed: se mettre a la volee “to take wing” in the Roman de Renart, and prendre sa volée, used figuratively from the early 14th century, then from 1835 for breaking free of a guardian or a constraint.^[2][8] À la volée meant “quickly” about 1202 and “rashly, thoughtlessly” about 1270.^[2]

By metonymy the word named a flock of birds flying together (1376), and about 1570 a group of people of the same age, rank or worth; under the Ancien Régime it was used of the lawyers called to the bar at the same time.^[2][8] The flight of birds high in the air gave the figurative sense “rank, quality” (1638) and the phrase de la haute volée (1666), later de haute volée (1830).^[8][2]

The idea of something thrown and still in the air gave the sense of a ball struck before it bounces, in à la volée (1454) and jouer de volée (1660), and later the tennis volley.^[8] From the late 16th century (before 1591) it also meant a discharge of several guns at once.^[8] The sense “quick, violent movement” gave volée de coups (about 1650) and, alone, une volée “a beating” (1701); volée de bois vert now means a burst of harsh criticism (1860).^[8] Other technical senses include the swinging of a bell, as in sonner à la volée, a crossbar of a carriage (1428) and part of an old cannon (1461).^[8]

English took the word in the 1570s as volley, first for a discharge of guns; the tennis sense dates from 1851.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1135 – De volee “in flight” appears in the Couronnement de Louis.^[2][8]
• c. 1270 – Adam de la Halle uses a le volee for “rashly”.^[2]
• 1376 – The Modus et Ratio uses it for a flock of partridges.^[2]
• 1454 – À la volée is used in ball games.^[8]
• c. 1570 – It is applied to a group of people of the same age or rank.^[2][8]
• before 1591 – It names a discharge of several guns at once.^[8]
• 1570s – English borrows it as volley.^[9]
• 1666 – Furetière writes de la plus haute vollée.^[2]
• 1701 – Une volée alone means a beating.^[8]
• 1830 – De haute volée is used by Balzac.^[2][8]
• 1860 – Volée de bois vert takes the sense “harsh criticism”.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) The act of flying; the distance a bird covers in one flight.^[5][10]
2. Prendre sa volée: to take wing;^[5][2] (figurative) to become independent.^[5][2]
3. A flock of birds flying together: une volée de pigeons.^[5][10][1]
4. A group of people, especially children, moving together;^[5][10] (Switzerland) a group of people born in the same year or doing the same thing at the same time.^[5][10]
5. De haute volée: of high rank or great ability.^[8][1]
6. A volley of shots fired together; a shower of things thrown.^[8][1]
7. (familiar) A thrashing, a series of blows;^[8][1] volée de bois vert, a burst of harsh criticism.^[8][1]
8. (sports) A volley: a ball struck before it touches the ground.^[8][1]
9. The swinging of a bell: sonner à la volée, to ring a bell in full swing.^[8]
10. A flight of stairs.^[1]

Related words

• voler
• vol¹
• Latin volō
• English volley

Usage notes

À la volée is used both for catching something in the air and, in older usage, for acting without thinking.^[5][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)