sceau French · revision 15916

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /so/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sceau''' ''m'' (plural sceaux)^(Wiktionary)

+ [[fro|seel]], ''sael'', ''seax'', ''scel'' (1256); the ⟨c⟩, not etymological, was added to distinguish it from [[seau]], and ''sceau'' prevailed from the 15th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|seel]], [[inh|la-vul|*sigellum]], an alteration of classical [[la|sigillum|t=statuette; impression of a seal; seal]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|11, 594a) a diminutive of [[m|la|signum|t=mark, sign]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) [[en|seal]] is from Old French “seel”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|suggello]], [[pro|sael]], [[ca|segell]] and [[es|sello]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has ''Freint le seel, getet en ad la cire'' “he breaks the seal and throws away the wax”, the impression on a letter.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1175 it named the matrix itself, as when Thomas Becket resigned the Great Seal (''rendre le sëel'');^(TLFi) ''garde des sceaux'' is attested in 1636 (earlier ''garde du seaul'', 1297), and the plural ''sceaux'' named the office of chancellor.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It also meant the right of sealing (late 14th century), a seal or mark of origin on goods (1530), and the place where documents are sealed (1685).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Figuratively ''sceau'' was what confirms or makes inviolable (late 12th century), as in ''sous le sceau de la confession'' (Rabelais, 1546) and ''sous le sceau du secret'' (1691), and a distinctive mark (Calvin, 1541).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Plants with seal-like marks are named ''sceau-de-Salomon'' (1549) and ''sceau de Notre-Dame'' (1538).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * c. 1175 – The matrix, in Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence.^(TLFi)

+ * 1256 – The spelling ''scel''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1297 – ''Garde du seaul''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1546 – ''Soubs le sceau de confession'' in Rabelais.^(TLFi)

+ * 1549 – ''Sceau de Salomon''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1636 – ''Garde des seaus de France''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|seal]]: an official stamp engraved with arms or a device; its impression in wax or lead: ''apposer son sceau''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Garde des Sceaux'': in France, the Minister of Justice.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(literary)'' A mark, stamp: ''le sceau du génie''.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Sous le sceau du secret'': under the seal of secrecy.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Sceau-de-Salomon'': [[m|en|Solomon's seal]] (a plant).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sceller]]

+ * [[scellé]]

+ * [[contre-sceau]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[signe]]

+ * [[sigillaire]]

+ * [[en|seal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}