bloc

Forms

bloc m^[1]

• bloq, blot, blo^[2][3]

The plural is spelled blocz and blos.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle Dutch bloc (“felled tree trunk”),^[4][5][6][7] modern Dutch blok;^[4] the DEAF and the FEW give the Dutch word as the etymon.^[8][9] The TLFi and the DHLF suggest that its several senses may have been borrowed one after another.^[4][5] A borrowing from Middle Low German blok fits the sound as well, but the TLFi and the DHLF find it less likely historically,^[4][5] and Bloch and Wartburg also consider Middle High German.^[10] Gamillscheg rules out a borrowing from High German.^[6]

The origin of the Germanic word is uncertain: Jacob Grimm identified it with Old High German biloh (“enclosure”), from a verb “to close”, which Kluge rejected.^[5] Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-Germanic *blukką (“block, log”) and traces it to Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- (“beam; to swell”).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DEAF's earliest record is the Récits d'un ménestrel de Reims, probably of 1260.^[8][12] The TLFi, the DHLF and Greimas give 1262, a ban of the aldermen of Douai, where the TLFi reads it as a trunk into which alms were collected.^[4][5][7]

Semantic evolution

Old French used the word for a log or block of wood and for a tree trunk;^[1][7] Adam de la Halle, about 1285, tells someone he weighs as much as a block.^[1][7] Later texts use it for the block on which a house's keys were kept, for wooden shackles on prisoners' feet, and, after 1409, for a large piece of a heavy substance.^[13][4][14] The Middle French form blot, a regional pronunciation, became a merchants' word for goods sold together.^[3] Bloch and Wartburg note that the word was native only in northern French and spread from French to other regions.^[10]

Timeline

• 1260 – in the Récits d'un ménestrel de Reims.^[8][12]
• 1262 – a trunk for alms, in a ban of the aldermen of Douai.^[4][7]
• 1273–1280 – in the Registre de Tournai.^[8][15]
• c. 1285 – in Adam de la Halle's Jeu de Robin et Marion.^[1][8]
• 1409 – a large piece of lead, in an account of Tournai.^[4][14]

Meanings

Noun

1. a block or log of wood.^[1]
2. a tree trunk.^[7]
3. a trunk or box for collecting alms.^[4][13]

Descendants

• Middle French bloc (→ French bloc)^[16][4]
• Middle English blok (borrowed; → English block)^[17]

Usage notes

Tobler–Lommatzsch, Godefroy, the DEAF and the DMF head it bloc.^{[1][13][8][16]} Bloch and Wartburg describe it as a word of northern French.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 1:1003
2. ^ a b FROLEX 3.0, lexique morphologique du français médiéval (IXe–XVe s.), Base de français médiéval, ENS de Lyon (from the BFM, the Nouveau Corpus d'Amsterdam and the DMF), github.com/sheiden/Medieval-French-Language-Toolkit
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. blot
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
5. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. bloc
6. ^ a b Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 133
7. ^ a b c d e f Greimas, Algirdas Julien (1979), Dictionnaire de l'ancien français jusqu'au milieu du XIVe siècle, 2nd ed., Paris: Larousse (printing of 1988), p. s.v. bloc
8. ^ a b c d e f Baldinger, Kurt; Möhren, Frankwalt; Städtler, Thomas, eds. (1971–2021), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF), Heidelberg: Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften; DEAFél / DEAFpré, deaf-server.adw.uni-heidelberg.de, p. s.v. bloc
9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/1:163
10. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France, p. 115
11. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
12. ^ a b Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. MenReimsW
13. ^ a b c Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon, p. 1:662
14. ^ a b Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon, p. 8:332
15. ^ Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. RegTournB
16. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf, p. s.v. bloc
17. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com