savon French · revision 15670

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1180, Roman d'Alexandre|origins=gem-pro *saipǭ}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sa.vɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''savon''' ''m'' (plural savons)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|savon]], [[inh|la|sāpō|t=soap]] (accusative “sāpōnem”),^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) which Pliny describes as a mixture of tallow and ashes invented by the Gauls to redden their hair.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989) The Latin word was taken from Germanic, [[gem-pro|*saipǭ]],^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|17, 3b) the Germanic tribes having known it in solid and liquid forms;^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) compare [[en|soap]] and [[de|Seife]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|sapone]], [[pt|sabão]] and [[ro|săpun]].^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Alexandre de Paris's ''Roman d'Alexandre'' (about 1180) has ''savon'' for the cleaning product made by combining a fatty acid with an alkali.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Kinds of soap followed: ''savon mol'' (13th century), now ''savon noir'' (1530), ''savon blanc'' (1530), ''savon de Marseille'' (1723) and ''savon de toilette'' (1835).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi) A moulded bar of soap is a ''savon'' from 1823.^(TLFi)

+

+ From the verb [[savonner]] came a second ''savon'', a scolding: ''laver la tête à quelqu'un sans savon'' (1597), ''avoir le savon'' (1757).^(TLFi) Derivatives include ''savonnier'' (1292), ''savonnerie'' (1313), ''savonnette'' (1579) and ''savonneux''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1180 – ''Savon'' (''Roman d'Alexandre'').^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1292 – ''Savonnier''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1530 – ''Savon noir'', ''savon blanc''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ * 1597 – ''Laver la tête sans savon'' “to scold”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1723 – ''Savon de Marseille''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1757 – ''Avoir le savon''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|soap|alt=Soap]]: ''savon de Marseille'', ''savon liquide''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A bar of soap.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(familiar)'' A dressing-down, a [[m|en|telling-off]]: ''avoir un savon''.^(TLFi)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' A salt of a fatty acid.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[savonner]]

+ * [[savonnette]]

+ * [[savonneux]]

+ * [[savonnier]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|soap]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}