malle French · revision 15615

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 11th century, Rashi (male)|origins=frk *malha}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mal/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''malle''' ''f'' (plural malles)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''male'';^(DHLF 1992) ''malle'' from about 1200.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|male|t=leather bag, travelling chest]], [[inh|frk|*malha|t=leather bag]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|16, 508a) reconstructed from [[goh|malha|t=satchel]] and [[dum|male|t=travelling bag, chest]] (modern [[nl|maal]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Wiktionary takes the Frankish word from [[gem-pro|*malhō]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ [[en|mail]], borrowed from Old French about 1205, is the same word.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Rashi's glosses (late 11th century) have ''male'' for a leather bag,^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) and the ''Couronnement de Louis'' (about 1135) uses it for a travelling chest of wood or leather.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The trunk for a traveller's belongings gave ''faire ses malles'' “to get ready to leave” (Diderot, 1745) and slang ''se faire la malle'' “to clear off” (1935).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) ''Trousser en malle'' “to carry off by surprise” (16th century) led to ''troussé en malle'' “dead” (1660), and ''faire sa malle'' meant “to die” in 1883.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The postbag sense (1569) gave ''malle-poste'' “mail coach” (1793) and ''malle des Indes'' (1850), after English [[m|en|mail]];^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) by anglicism ''la malle'' was also the Calais–Dover packet service (1923), and in Quebec ''malle'' still means “mail”.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The car boot was once called ''la malle arrière''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 11th century – ''Male'' “leather bag” (Rashi).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1135 – A travelling chest.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1200 – The spelling ''malle''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1569 – The postbag.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1745 – ''Faire ses malles''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1793 – ''Malle-poste''.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1935 – ''Se faire la malle''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|trunk]], a large travelling chest.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Se faire la malle'' ''(familiar)'': to clear off, run away.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(historical)'' The [[m|en|mail coach]] (''malle-poste''); the mail service.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(dated)'' The boot of a car.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mallette]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[valise]]

+ * [[en|mail]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}