châsse French · revision 15872

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1131, Couronnement de Louis|origins=la capsa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʃas/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /ʃɑs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''châsse''' ''f'' (plural châsses)^(Wiktionary)

+ Norman [[m|fro|casse]] (about 1150), [[m|fro|chasse]]; spelt ''châsse'' from 1680, and in the Académie only from 1835.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|chasse]], [[inh|la|capsa|t=box, case]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|2, 310b) which had the sense “reliquary” in Medieval Latin (about 720) and “coffin” in ecclesiastical Latin.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The Petit Robert takes the Latin word probably from [[m|la|capiō|t=to take; to hold]].^(Petit Robert 2007) It replaced the Old French synonym [[m|fro|fiertre]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ It is a doublet of [[caisse]] and [[casse]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Couronnement de Louis'' (about 1131) names a ''chasce'' among church treasures;^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873) Wace (about 1150) has the Norman form ''casse'' for the coffer holding a saint's relics.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Technical senses followed: the handle of a folding knife (1184), a frame holding something in place (about 1375) and, in goldsmiths' work, a glass case protecting a precious object (1285).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Richelet (1680) notes that the vowel is long, hence the circumflex.^(TLFi)

+

+ ''Paré comme une châsse'' “richly decked out” is in Beaumarchais in 1777,^(BHVF) and the Académie recorded ''être dorée comme une châsse'' in 1718.^(TLFi) A slang ''châsse'' “eye” (1833) is a back-formation from [[châssis]] used for the eyes.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1131 – ''Chasce'' in the ''Couronnement de Louis''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1150 – ''Casse'' for a reliquary, in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 1184 – The handle of a folding knife.^(TLFi)

+ * 1285 – A goldsmith's case.^(TLFi)

+ * 1680 – The spelling ''châsse'' in Richelet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1718 – ''Être dorée comme une châsse''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1833 – Slang ''châsse'' “eye”.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|reliquary]]: a richly worked coffer holding the relics of a saint.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Paré comme une châsse'': richly dressed or decorated.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A mounting or frame: ''la châsse d'un verre de lunette''; the handle of a [[m|en|lancet]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''(slang, masculine)'' An [[m|en|eye]].^(Larousse)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[châssis]]

+ * [[enchâsser]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[caisse]]

+ * [[casse]]

+ * [[capsule]]

+ * [[la|capsa]]

+ * [[en|chase]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}