route French · revision 15638

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1121–1134, rute (Philippe de Thaon)|origins=la rumpō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʁut/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''route''' ''f'' (plural routes)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''rute'', ''rote'';^(DHLF 1992) ''roupte'' (1347) shows the etymological ⟨p⟩;^(DHLF 1992) ''route'' from the 16th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|rote]], [[inh|la-vul|*rupta]], short for the phrase “via rupta”, literally “a broken, opened way”,^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary) from the feminine past participle of [[la|rumpō|t=to break]], as in the classical phrase “rumpere viam”, to open a way (Seneca).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Another explanation, from stones “broken” for the road as opposed to paving, is not borne out.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ Old French also had ''route'' “band, troop” and “rout”, of the same origin, which gave [[routier]] “freebooter” and [[déroute]].^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Philippe de Thaon (1121–1134) uses ''rute'' for a way or direction, and Wace (1160–1174) for a road, in ''sei metre en sa route'' “to set off”.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Rey notes that it first named a way cut through a forest for carting, hunting or walking,^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) then a main overland road, as opposed to a town street ([[rue]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) Types of road followed: ''grande route'' (1694), ''route royale'' (1810), ''route départementale'' (1835), ''route nationale'' (1875), and the ''code de la route'' “highway code” (1921).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ It also means the course a ship or traveller follows: ''faire fausse route'' “to go astray” (1690), ''feuille de route'' “travel orders” (1825) and ''en route'', ''bonne route''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary) Derivatives include ''routine'' (16th century), ''routier'' (1834) and [[autoroute]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1121–1134 – ''Rute'' “way, direction”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1160–1174 – ''Rute'' “road” (Wace).^(TLFi)

+ * 1347 – ''Roupte''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1690 – ''Faire fausse route''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1694 – ''Grande route''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1875 – ''Route nationale''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1921 – ''Code de la route''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|road]] between places, outside towns.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|route]] or way; the journey: ''en route'', ''bonne route''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The course of a ship or aircraft: ''faire route vers''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(figurative)'' The way to an end: ''la route du succès''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[autoroute]]

+ * [[dérouter]]

+ * [[routier]]

+ * [[routine]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[rompre]]

+ * [[rue]]

+ * [[en|route]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}