broche

Forms

broche f (oblique plural broches)^[1]

• broke, broque, brocque, broiche, brouche^[2][3][4]

Northern forms with /k/, broke and broque, are found beside central broche.^[3][2] The AND lists the insular spellings broch, brosshe and brouche.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *brocca (“pointed thing”), the feminine, used as a noun, of Latin broccus (“with projecting teeth”).^[1][5][6][7] The Latin adjective, found in Plautus, was said of protruding teeth; the DHLF calls it a popular word with an expressive double consonant for a deformity, of no clear etymology, and notes that a link with the Irish word for “badger” has been suggested.^[6] Gamillscheg takes it from Gaulish *brokkos (“point; pointed”), which lives on in Celtic in the sense “badger”,^[8] and Wiktionary also gives a possible Gaulish source, from Proto-Celtic *brokkos (“badger”).^[1] The Romance cognates include Italian brocco (“pointed stick, peg”), Italian brocca and Old Occitan broca, beside broc (“thorn”).^[9][5]

The verb brochier “to prick, spur” is derived from it,^[8] and the DHLF supposes the noun older than its first dated record because the verb appears earlier.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DEAF's earliest record is Rashi's French glosses in his commentaries on the Talmud, from the end of the 11th century, in manuscripts of about 1190.^[10][11] Rashi writes the French word in Hebrew letters three times, each for a spit or a pointed stick.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is a pointed object: a spike, a peg or stake, a pointed weapon, the tines of an antler, a boar's tusk and a hedgehog's spines.^[13][3] The cook's spit is recorded from 1172–1175,^[6] and Chrétien de Troyes has it in Yvain: Puis mist en une broche an rost Son lardé cuire au feu mout tost “then he put his larded meat on a spit to roast over the fire quickly”.^[14] In Erec et Enide the phrase trenchier la broche, literally “to cut the spit”, means to settle a question.^[14] The peg that stops a cask is recorded about 1271, and the sense of a jewel with a long pin and clasp appears in Middle French in 1332.^[6]

The modern word is French broche, with technical senses in spinning, surgery and mountaineering.^[6] English took it twice: broach “pointed instrument” about 1300, and brooch from the early 13th century, a spelling that became distinct in the 14th century for the clasp.^[15]

Timeline

• 1085–1100 – Rashi's French glosses, for a spit or pointed stick.^[10][11][12]
• 1100–1125 – the Anglo-Norman Voyage de saint Brendan, with spikes in hell.^[13][16]
• 1121–1125 – the first record in the AND.^[4]
• c. 1170 – trenchier la broche in Chrétien's Erec et Enide.^[14][17]
• c. 1177 – the roasting spit in Chrétien's Yvain.^[14][18]
• c. 1271 – the peg of a cask.^[6]
• 1332 – the jewel, in Middle French.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. a spike, sharp point or prong.^[13][4]
2. a spit for roasting.^[14][4][12]
3. a pointed stake or peg.^[13]
4. a pointed weapon, such as a dart or javelin.^[3][4]
5. a brooch or pin; a hair-pin.^[4]
6. the spigot or tap of a cask.^[13][19][4]
7. the tine of an antler, the tusk of a boar, the spine of a hedgehog.^[13][3]
8. trenchier la broche: to settle a question, put an end to a debate.^[14][4]
9. a broches d'esperons: spurring hard, at full gallop.^[3]

Anglo-Norman

The AND gives the word under broche with a first record of 1121–1125 and a wide range of insular senses: spike, spine, spit, the hand of a sundial, a pointed weapon, the dagger sign in manuscripts, a brooch or pin, a hair-pin, the handle of a plough, a tap, a weaver's shuttle, and the phrase “to set a cask abroach”.^[4] Middle English broche is from the Old French word, and gave English broach and brooch.^[20][15]

Word family

• brochier

Descendants

• French broche^[1][21]
• Middle English broche (borrowed; → English broach, English brooch)^[15][20]
• Italian broccia (borrowed)^[9]
• Spanish broche (borrowed)^[9]

Usage notes

The jug called broc is a different word, which Bloch and Wartburg trace through Old Occitan to Greek;^[5] the AND heads it broche too,^[4] and the DMF has a separate broche “jug” in eastern texts.^[22] The broce “brushwood”, sometimes written broche, is another word again, and Bos notes that the two are sometimes confused.^[23][24]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
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 c d e f 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. 1:737
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. broche
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France, p. 130
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. broche
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1:543
8. ^ a b Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 167
9. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1319
10. ^ a b 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. broche
11. ^ 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. RaschiD2
12. ^ a b c Katan, Moshe (1988), Otzar La'azei Rashi: the Old French glosses of Rashi, Jerusalem; digital edition Sefaria, p. s.v. broche
13. ^ a b c d e f Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 1:1155
14. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire électronique de Chrétien de Troyes (DÉCT), LFA / Université d'Ottawa – ATILF, CNRS / Université de Lorraine (2014), p. s.v. broche
15. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
16. ^ 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. BrendanW
17. ^ 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. ErecR
18. ^ UD Old French PROFITEROLE and UD Middle French PROFITEROLE treebanks, Universal Dependencies (from the SRCMF and the Base de français médiéval; texts by DEAF siglum), p. YvainF
19. ^ 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. broche
20. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
21. ^ 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
22. ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf, p. s.v. broche
23. ^ Bos, Alphonse (1891), Glossaire de la langue d'oïl (XIe–XIVe siècles), Paris: Maisonneuve, p. 60
24. ^ Dictionnaire électronique de Chrétien de Troyes (DÉCT), LFA / Université d'Ottawa – ATILF, CNRS / Université de Lorraine (2014), p. s.v. broce