étage French · revision 15815

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=la stō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /e.taʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''étage''' ''m'' (plural étages)^(Wiktionary)

+ [[fro|estage]]; spelt ''étage'' from 1636 (Monet).^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Old French [[m|fro|estage|t=dwelling; stay; condition]], formed from [[m|fro|ester|t=to stand, to be (somewhere)]] with the suffix [[-age]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|12, 239b) the verb being [[inh|la|stō|alt=stāre|t=to stand]].^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007) Bloch and Wartburg, the GLLF and Littré start instead from a popular Latin [[la-vul|*stāticum]] in place of classical [[m|la|statiō]];^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873) the TLFi and Bloch and Wartburg think such a Latin form unnecessary, the suffix being productive at all times.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[pro|estatge]] and [[it|staggio]].^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The word was borrowed into [[de|Etage]] and [[nl|etage]].^(Wiktionary) Compare [[stage]].^(Wiktionary)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has ''Il me suirat ad Ais à mon estage'' “he will follow me to Aachen, to my residence”, the sense “dwelling”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old French ''estage'' also meant a stay or term of service, and in feudal law ''lige estage'' (1249, 1283) was the vassal's obligation to reside at his lord's castle.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) About 1135 it meant “position, condition”, a sense that survives only in ''de bas étage'' “of low rank; vulgar” (1704), now understood as a metaphor of height.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The sense “floor, storey of a building” is in Wace (1155) and became the only living one.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Premier étage'' was used of the ground floor in the 15th century, and this older usage survives in Quebec;^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) in African French ''un étage'' can mean a multi-storey building.^(DHLF 1992) By analogy it named a shelf (1418) and any level in a set of tiers: ''menton à double étage'' “double chin” (1680), geological stages and the stages of a rocket.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Estage'' “dwelling” in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1135 – “Condition” in the ''Couronnement de Louis''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1155 – “Storey” in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 1249 – ''Estage'' “feudal residence duty”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1418 – “Shelf (of a reliquary)”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1680 – ''Menton à double étage''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1704 – ''De bas étage''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|floor]] or [[m|en|storey]] of a building: ''habiter au troisième étage'', ''un immeuble de dix étages''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # Any of a series of superposed levels or tiers.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(geology)'' A stage, ''(ecology, climatology)'' a vegetation or altitude zone.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(astronautics)'' A rocket stage.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''De bas étage'': of low rank; of poor quality.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[étagement]]

+ * [[étager]]

+ * [[étagère]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ester]]

+ * [[stage]]

+ * [[la|stō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}