mail French · revision 15847

+ French has two words spelled ''mail'': the mallet and the old game and promenade named after it, inherited from Latin, and the recent ''mail'' “email”, from English.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)

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+ {{homograph|1|mallet; promenade}}

+

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /maj/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mail''' ''m'' (plural mails)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The mallet is [[inh|fro|mail]], [[inh|la|malleus|t=hammer, mallet]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|6/1, 116a) a technical word that Rey compares with [[cu|млатъ|tr=mlatŭ|t=hammer]] and [[non|Mjǫllnir]], the name of Thor's hammer.^(DHLF 1992) Cognate with [[ro|mai]], [[it|maglio]], [[oc|malh]], [[ca|mall]] and [[pt|malho]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935) [[en|maul]] and [[en|mall]] come from it.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has ''mailz de fer'', iron hammers.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The old sense “heavy hammer” was ousted by the diminutive [[maillet]], except in some trades (a quarryman's hammer, 1803).^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) With the popularity of the game in the 17th century, ''mail'' named the long-handled mallet used to drive a wooden ball, and the game itself, a forerunner of golf and croquet (Monet, 1636).^(TLFi)^(Larousse) By metonymy it named the alley where the game was played (1636) and then a public promenade (1680), especially in the towns of the Loire valley such as Orléans.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In Quebec French ''mail'' also means a shopping mall.^(Wiktionary)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Mailz de fer'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1230 – The diminutive ''maillet''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1636 – The game of mall and its alley, in Monet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1680 – A public promenade, in Richelet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1803 – A quarryman's hammer, in Boiste.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(historical)'' The game of [[m|en|pall-mall]]; the long-handled mallet used in it.^(Le Robert)^(Larousse)

+ # A tree-lined public walk, a [[m|en|mall]].^(Le Robert)^(TLFi)

+ # A pedestrian street in a shopping centre, ''(Quebec)'' a shopping mall.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(technical)'' A quarryman's heavy hammer.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[maillet]]

+ * [[mailloche]]

+ * [[chamailler]]

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+ {{homograph|2|email}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing, clipping|attested=c. 1980|origins=en email}}

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+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɛl/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /mɛjl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mail''' ''m'' (plural mails)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The email word is a clipping of the anglicism “e-mail”, [[bor|en|email]], in which [[m|en|mail]] means “post”.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary) It is pronounced in the English way, unlike the native “mail”.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Grand Robert dates it to about 1980,^(Grand Robert 2005) the Petit Robert to 1998.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is used informally for an electronic message and for an email address (''donner son mail'').^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert) It competes with [[courriel]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1980 – First use, according to the Grand Robert.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1998 – The Petit Robert's date.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(informal)'' An [[m|en|email]] message; email.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An email address.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[malléable]]

+ * [[marteau]]

+ * [[courriel]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}