carreau French · revision 15640

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (quarrel)|origins=la quadrus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ka.ʁo/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /kɑ.ʁo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''carreau''' ''m'' (plural carreaux)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''quarrel'', ''quarel'' (nominative ''carals''); ''carreau'' from the 12th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|quarrel]], [[inh|la-vul|*quadrellus]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|2, 1401b) a diminutive of [[la|quadrus|t=square]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) [[la-med|quadrellus]] is recorded as a crossbow bolt (about 578), a square measure of land (about 868) and a paving slab (13th century).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|quadrello]] and [[oc|cairel]].^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has ''quarrel'' for a crossbow bolt with a square-sectioned head.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From 1160 it named a flat paving tile of stone or fired clay (Wace), then the tiled floor itself (about 1330),^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) whence the ''carreau des Halles'', where market traders set out their wares (1723), the pithead yard of a mine (1867), and ''étendre sur le carreau'' “to lay out flat” (about 1600), modern ''rester sur le carreau''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) A pane of window glass is a ''carreau'' from 1318.^(TLFi)

+

+ Square patterns gave the check of a fabric (''à carreaux''), and in cards the suit of diamonds.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary) Craftsmen named after it a tailor's heavy iron (1611), still the usual word for an iron in Caribbean and Indian Ocean French, and a locksmith's file (1676).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In 17th-century poetry ''carreaux'' were thunderbolts.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In medicine it was tuberculosis of the abdominal glands, the belly being as hard as a tile (1694–1718).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Quarrel'', a crossbow bolt.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1160 – A paving tile (Wace).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1318 – A windowpane.^(TLFi)

+ * 1611 – A tailor's iron.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1723 – ''Carreau de la Halle''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1867 – ''Carreau de la mine''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|tile]] for floors or walls.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|windowpane]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A square in a pattern: ''tissu à carreaux'' “checked cloth”.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(cards)'' [[m|en|diamond|alt=Diamonds]], the suit.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(historical)'' A crossbow [[m|en|bolt]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Rester sur le carreau'': to be left for dead, or left out.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[carreler]]

+ * [[carrelet]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[carreauté]]

+ * [[carré]]

+ * [[carrer]]

+ * [[équerre]]

+ * [[square]]

+ * [[cadre]]

+ * [[la|quadrus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}