écoutille French · revision 15846

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1538, escoutille|origins=got 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍄𐍃}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /e.ku.tij/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''écoutille''' ''f'' (plural écoutilles)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|es|escotilla|t=hatchway]] (1431–1450),^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|17, 104b) a derivative of [[m|es|escotar|t=to cut a neckline]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) or of [[m|es|escote|t=neckline, opening in a garment]] according to Bloch and Wartburg;^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Spanish “escotadura” “theatre trapdoor” is attested in the 15th century.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The Spanish word is probably from [[got|𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍄𐍃|tr=skauts|t=edge of a garment]],^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) though the forms of Portuguese “decotar” and Old Languedocien “escotat” make difficulties;^(TLFi) Rey thinks of an Old Norse “skaut” instead.^(DHLF 1992) Wiktionary compares [[de|Schoß|t=lap]] and [[en|sheet]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Littré thought it might come from [[écoute]], the hatch being compared to a listening place.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A manuscript of 1538 has ''escoutille'' for the panel that covers a hatchway;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Rabelais (1552) uses it for the opening itself, where Pantagruel dozes ''sus un strapontin on bout des escoutilles''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “panel covering the hatch” is found until 1643 (Fournier).^(TLFi) The word names the rectangular opening in a ship's deck that gives access to the decks below and the hold.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Grand Robert 2005) The diminutive ''écoutillon'' dates from 1552.^(DHLF 1992) Mountaineers have used it for a vertical shaft in ice (1950).^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1431–1450 – Spanish ''escotilla''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1538 – ''Escoutille'' “hatch cover”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1552 – The opening itself, in Rabelais, ''écoutillon''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

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

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(nautical)'' A [[m|en|hatch]], [[m|en|hatchway]]: an opening in a ship's deck giving access below.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[écoutillon]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[écoute]]

+ * [[es|escotilla]]

+ * [[en|scuttle]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}