travers French · revision 16473

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (en traver)|origins=la vertō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tʁa.vɛʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''travers''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|traver]] (1080); ''travers'' from about 1150.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|trāversum]], the neuter of [[la|trānsversus|t=lying across, oblique]] used as a noun, already common in adverbial phrases such as “in transversum” and “de transverso”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|13/2, 222a) “Trānsversus” is the past participle of [[m|la|trānsvertō|t=to turn across]], from [[m|la|trāns-|t=across]] and [[m|la|vertō|t=to turn]].^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Unlike French, [[it|traverso]] and [[es|travieso]] are also adjectives.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) [[transverse]] is a learned doublet.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has ''en traver'', which the TLFi glosses “by a cross road” and the Grand Robert and Petit Robert “directly”: ''De Val-Fuït sunt venuz en travers''.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the first texts it is found above all in phrases: ''en travers'' “right through” (Wace, 1160–1174) and “crosswise”, ''à travers'' (1160–1174), ''de travers'' (about 1155) and ''au travers de'' (about 1210).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''De travers'' took on unfavourable senses: ''regarder quelqu'un de travers'' “with hostility” (about 1280), ''répondre de travers'' (about 1440), ''prendre tout de travers'' (1585) and ''avaler de travers'' (1850).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Old French phrases joining ''tort'' and ''travers'' gave ''à tort et à travers''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ As a noun it named a cross path (late 12th century, a sense passed to ''traverse''), then a width (about 1389), the beam of a ship (1704) and, in butchery, ''travers de porc'' (1877).^(DHLF 1992) The figurative sense, a foible or defect of character, appears in the 16th or 17th century (1637 in Rey).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) ''Passer au travers'' “to escape justice” was police slang in 1897.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * c. 1155 – ''De travers'', in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 1160–1174 – ''À travers'' and ''en travers'', in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1280 – ''Regarder quelqu'un de travers''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1368 – The derivative ''traversin'' “bolster”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1637 – “A foible”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1640 – ''À travers champs''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1850 – ''Avaler de travers'' in Labiche.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|foible]], a quirk, a small defect: ''chacun a ses travers''.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(dated)'' Breadth: ''un travers de doigt''.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(butchery)'' ''Travers de porc'': spare ribs.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(nautical)'' The beam of a ship: ''par le travers''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''À travers'', ''au travers de'': through, across: ''à travers champs'', ''voir à travers la vitre''.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # ''En travers (de)'': across, crosswise, ''se mettre en travers de'': to stand in the way of.^(Le Robert)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''De travers'': askew; wrongly: ''avaler de travers'', ''regarder quelqu'un de travers'', ''aller de travers''.^(TLFi)^(Larousse)

+ # ''À tort et à travers'': indiscriminately, ''passer au travers'': to escape.^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[traversin]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[traverser]]

+ * [[traverse]]

+ * [[transversal]]

+ * [[la|trānsversus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}