omelette French · revision 15630

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=1548, homelaicte (Rabelais)|origins=la lāmella}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɔm.lɛt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''omelette''' ''f'' (plural omelettes)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Homelaicte'' (Rabelais, 1548), ''omelette'' (1561), ''aumelette'' (1652); popular ''œufmelette'' (Héroard, 1607).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|frm|amelette]] (1480), altered, probably in the south, under the influence of words from [[la|ōvum|t=egg]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) ''Amelette'' comes by metathesis from a form “alemette”, a variant of [[m|frm|alumette]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) itself from Old French [[m|fro|alumelle]] with a change of suffix.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) ''Alumelle'' is [[m|fro|lemelle|t=thin blade]], the older form of [[lamelle]], with the ''a'' of the article ''la'' attached to it,^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) and goes back to [[la|lāmella|t=thin metal plate]].^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|5, 136a) The flat omelette was compared to a blade.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Académie 9) The change from ''a'' to ''o'' may have come through spellings with “au-”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The popular explanation as “œufs mêlés”, mixed eggs, is old but wrong.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Ménagier de Paris'' (late 14th century) gives recipes for ''alumelle'' and ''alumete'' of eggs;^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873) Rabelais writes ''homelaicte'' in 1548.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Amelette'' was still used in Paris in the 17th century, and Furetière records it beside ''omelette''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) The word spread through the dialects in varied forms, among them ''amolette'', crossed with [[mou]] “soft”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Phrases include ''omelette baveuse'' “runny omelette” (Scarron, 1648) and the proverb ''on ne fait pas d'omelette sans casser des œufs'' “you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs” (1868, in Littré's form ''on ne saurait faire une omelette…'').^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873) The ''omelette norvégienne'' is baked Alaska.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 14th century – ''Alumelle'', ''alumete'' in the ''Ménagier de Paris''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+ * 1480 – ''Amelette'' in Tours.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1548 – Rabelais's ''homelaicte''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1561 – ''Omelette''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1648 – ''Omelette baveuse''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1868 – The proverb about breaking eggs.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|omelette]], beaten eggs cooked in a pan: ''omelette aux champignons''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Omelette norvégienne'': [[m|en|baked Alaska]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lamelle]]

+ * [[lame]]

+ * [[en|omelette]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}