tortue French · revision 15793

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1190, Floovant|origins=grc ταρταροῦχος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tɔʁ.ty/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tortue''' ''f'' (plural tortues)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|pro|tartuga]], also “tortuga”, altered under the influence of [[tortu|t=twisted]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) The Old Occitan word comes, by dissimilation, from [[la-lat|tartarūca]], the feminine used as a noun of [[m|la-lat|tartarūchus|t=of Tartarus, of hell]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|13/1, 125a) from [[grc|ταρταροῦχος|tr=tartaroûkhos|t=dwelling in Tartarus]], from [[m|grc|Τάρταρος|tr=Tártaros]], of unknown origin.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)^(REW 1935) The tortoise stood for heresy and the powers of darkness, shown fighting the cock, the symbol of light; the name may come from phrases such as “bestia tartaruca” “beast of hell”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ The same Latin word gave [[it|tartaruga]] and [[pt|tartaruga]], and [[es|tortuga]] has the same altered form.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Classical Latin called the animal [[m|la|testūdō]], from [[m|la|testa|t=shell]], which gave Old French “testue” (1213) in the military sense.^(DHLF 1992) Littré derived the word from “tortu” alone, the animal having crooked feet.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''chanson de geste'' ''Floovant'' (about 1190) names ''tortues et scarpanz'', tortoises and other creatures.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The slow tortoise gave ''marcher comme une tortue'' (1648, Scarron), ''à pas de tortue'', and a slow person is ''une tortue'' (1796); Brunetto Latini already wrote of a lazy man ''ce est une tortue''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873) Turtle soup appears in 1690 (''potager de tortuës'') and ''soupe à la tortue'' in 1825.^(TLFi)

+

+ As in Latin, the word also named a siege engine under which soldiers approached the walls (1575, Paré) and the shield-roof of Roman soldiers, the testudo (1606, Nicot).^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1190 – The reptile (''Floovant'').^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1213 – ''Testue'', the shield-roof.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1575 – A siege engine (Paré).^(TLFi)

+ * 1606 – The testudo of Roman soldiers (Nicot).^(TLFi)

+ * 1648 – ''Marcher comme une tortue'' (Scarron).^(TLFi)

+ * 1694 – First recorded by the Académie.^(TLFi)

+ * 1825 – ''Soupe à la tortue'' (Brillat-Savarin).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|turtle]] or [[m|en|tortoise]]: ''tortue de mer'', ''tortue terrestre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A very slow person: ''avancer comme une tortue''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(history)'' A [[m|en|testudo]], a shield-roof formed by soldiers.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tortu]]

+ * [[en|tortoise]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}