étai French · revision 15851

+ French has two words spelled ''étai'': the stay of a ship's mast, from Old English, and the prop or shore, from Frankish.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Grand Robert 2005)

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+ {{homograph|1|ship's stay}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1180, Guillaume de Berneville|origins=ang stæġ}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /e.tɛ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /e.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''étai''' ''m'' (plural étais)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The ship's stay is [[bor|ang|stæġ|t=rope, stay]],^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|17, 193a) influenced by the word for a prop;^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007) Rey takes it from [[osx|stag]] instead.^(DHLF 1992) Wiktionary takes the English word from [[gem-pro|*stagą]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Guillaume de Berneville's ''Vie de saint Gilles'' (about 1180) has ''estai'' as a sailors' word;^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) the Grand Robert and Petit Robert date it to about 1130.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word was rare before the 16th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It names the rope or wire that holds a mast forward, to stop it falling backwards;^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse) on large sailing ships the stays are named after their masts (''étai de misaine'').^(Larousse) ''Voiles d'étai'', staysails, are recorded in 1870.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1180 – ''Estai'' in the ''Vie de saint Gilles''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – The spelling ''étai'', in Furetière.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1870 – ''Voile d'étai''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(nautical)'' A [[m|en|stay]], a rope or wire bracing a mast forward.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Voile d'étai'': a [[m|en|staysail]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

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+ {{homograph|2|prop}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1193, Hélinand|origins=frk *staka}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /e.tɛ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /e.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''étai''' ''m'' (plural étais)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The prop is from [[frk|*staka|t=support, prop]],^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|17, 195a) which Rey reconstructs from [[dum|stake|t=pole]] and [[gmh|stake|alt=stak|t=pole, post]].^(DHLF 1992) [[dum|staeye]] is borrowed from Old French “estaie”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Littré derived it from Flemish.^(Littré 1873)

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+ The word appears in many forms, each found only once or twice: “estai” (about 1193), “escai” (1266), the feminine “estaie” (1303–1304), “atay” (1398) and “étaie” (17th century), the feminine being commonest until the 18th century;^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) “étai” is recorded in 1753.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Hélinand (about 1193) has ''estai'' for a beam propping up a building.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense “help, support” is found from 1266.^(DHLF 1992) Froissart writes of a fortress that ''ne git que sur estais'', that is undermined.^(Littré 1873) The word names a timber or metal prop used to support a building, a floor or the roof of a mine, and figuratively a support of society (Renan).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989) The verb ''étayer'' dates from 1213 and its figurative sense from 1580.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

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+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1193 – ''Estai'' in Hélinand.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1213 – The verb ''estaier''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1266 – Figurative “support”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1304 – The feminine ''estaie''.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1753 – The form ''étai''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|prop]] or shore: a timber or metal post supporting a structure temporarily, or the roof of a mine.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(figurative, literary)'' A support, mainstay.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[étayer]]

+ * [[étaiement]]

+ * [[étayage]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|stay]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}