joint

Forms

joint m (oblique plural joinz, jointz; nominative singular joinz, jointz)^[1]

• Adjective: joint (feminine jointe).^[2][3]
• joynt, joeint, joing, juint^[2][4]

Etymology

Used as a noun and adjective, it is the past participle from Old French joindre (“to join”),^[1][2] which is from Latin iungō (“to put in the yoke, join”).^[2][5] The Latin participle is iūnctus.^[1] The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Italic *jungō, from the root Proto-Indo-European *yewg-.^[1] Gamillscheg explains the noun as “that which is joined”, the participle used as a noun, and keeps it apart from jointe “joint, fetlock”, of the 12th century, which comes from Vulgar Latin *iūncta.^[6]

The DEAF notes that the adjective kept part of the verb's meaning and developed the rest independently, from “compact” to “well ordered”, first of outward appearance and then of the mind.^[2] Bos also derives the adjective from the participle.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records of the adjective, about 1180, compare a person to a bird with smooth plumage.^[2] In Chrétien's Perceval a maiden is plus jointe Que espreviers ne papegaus “sleeker than a sparrowhawk or a parrot”.^[2][8] In Raoul de Cambrai, Bernier in his silk tunic is one Qi plus est joins qe faus ne esprevier “who is sleeker than falcon or sparrowhawk”.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

The DEAF sorts the adjective into four senses: trim and sleek of figure (about 1180 to the early 14th century), well turned-out and pleasing to look at (about 1220 to the middle of the 15th), ready to act in an orderly way, also of the tongue (from about 1230), and in Anglo-Norman law “held in common by several”, from about 1275.^[2] Because modern French no longer has the sense “well ordered”, the glossaries of Old French texts translate it in many ways, from “slender” and “alert” to “elegant”.^[2][9][10]

The noun is first a yoke for oxen, in the second half of the 13th century, and in a document of 1397.^[2][10] An Anglo-Norman text of the first half of the 14th century uses it for the joint of the hand, and a Paris account of 1399 for the line where two stones meet.^[2][11] Modern French joint keeps the senses of a junction and, rarely, a joint of the body.^[12] Its slang sense of a cannabis cigarette, of 1973, was borrowed from English joint, itself from the French word.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1180 – jointe “sleek” in Chrétien de Troyes's Perceval.^[2][8]
• end of the 12th century – joins in Raoul de Cambrai.^[2][14][9]
• c. 1220 – “well turned-out, pleasing to look at”.^[2]
• c. 1275 – “held in common”, in Anglo-Norman law.^[2]
• 1250–1300 – the noun joins “yokes”.^[2][15]
• 1300–1350 – joynt “joint of the hand”, in an Anglo-Norman text.^[2][16]
• 1399 – joings “joints” between stones.^[2][11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. sleek, trim of figure, of persons and birds of prey.^[2][9]
2. well turned-out, elegant, graceful.^[2][10][9]
3. alert, lively, ready to act.^[2][9]
4. (law, Anglo-Norman) joint, held in common by several.^[2]

Noun

1. a yoke for oxen.^[2][17][10]
2. a joint of the body.^[2][18]
3. a junction, the line where two pieces meet.^[2][11]

Anglo-Norman

The AND lists the participle under joindre, with the spellings goint, joinct, joynt, juint and junt,^[4] and has the body joint, the knuckle and the wrist under jointe, also written joint.^[18] The DEAF notes that the legal uses of the adjective in England passed into Middle English, as in joint estat and joint feffement, and that Anglo-Norman built on it the compounds jointenant and jointenance.^[2] Etymonline derives the English noun joint, of about 1300, from Old French joint “joint of the body”, and the adjective, of the early 15th century, from Old French jointiz and joint.^[19]

Word family

• jointement
• jointenant
• jointenance

Descendants

• Middle French joint (→ French joint)^[1][20]
• Middle English joynt (borrowed; → English joint)^[1][19]

Related words

• joindre
• jointe
• jointure

Usage notes

Tobler–Lommatzsch treats the adjective under joindre and has two nouns joint,^[17] Godefroy separates the adjective from the noun “yoke”,^[10] and the DEAF, under joindre, has joint 1 for the participle as an adjective and joint 2 for the noun.^[2] The bare participle belongs to the entry joindre.^[2]

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 o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 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. joindre1
3. ^ Dictionnaire électronique de Chrétien de Troyes (DÉCT), LFA / Université d'Ottawa – ATILF, CNRS / Université de Lorraine (2014), p. s.v. joindre
4. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. joindre
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. iungō
6. ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 580
7. ^ Bos, Alphonse (1891), Glossaire de la langue d'oïl (XIe–XIVe siècles), Paris: Maisonneuve, p. 309
8. ^ 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. PercB
9. ^ 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. joint
10. ^ a b c d e 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. 4:649
11. ^ 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. 10:47
12. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5:68
13. ^ 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
14. ^ 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. RCambrK
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. OutHôtelbN
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. PlainteVgeNostreT
17. ^ a b Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 4:1733
18. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. jointe
19. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
20. ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf, p. s.v. joint