coin French · revision 16481

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1160|origins=la cuneus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kwɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''coin''' ''m'' (plural coins)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|cuneus|t=wedge for splitting wood]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|2, 1530b) In Latin it was already used of anything wedge-shaped, and in Medieval Latin (1099) of the die for striking coins.^(DHLF 1992) Rey calls it a craftsmen's and woodcutters' word, beside [[m|la|angulus]] (the source of [[angle]]), perhaps borrowed through Etruscan from [[grc|γώνιος|tr=gṓnios|t=angular]]; the Petit Robert calls its origin unknown.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|cui]], [[it|cuneo]], [[oc|conh]], [[ca|cuny]], [[es|cuña]] and [[pt|cunha]].^(Petit Robert 2007) Bloch and Wartburg note that the dialects of Gallo-Romance replaced it for the tool with a type “coignet”, and for the corner of a house with “quarre”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found about 1160 for a solid triangle, the sense that gave the corner of a house; the woodcutter's wedge is recorded about 1179 and the die for striking coins in 1164–85.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As well as an outer corner (''coin de la rue'', 1312), it came to mean an inner angle: ''coin des tisons'' (1567), then ''coin du feu'' “fireside” (1671), and in the face ''coin de l'œil'' (1530), whence ''du coin de l'œil'' “out of the corner of one's eye”, and ''coin de la bouche'' (1704).^(DHLF 1992) From 1549 it was a small, out-of-the-way spot, and ''le petit coin'' is a euphemism for the toilet.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) ''Du coin'', “the nearest, the local one”, is in ''le café du coin'' (1832) and earlier ''le petit broc du coin'' (1747).^(BHVF)

+

+ The die sense gave the hallmark on goldsmiths' work (1690) and ''marqué au coin de'' “bearing the stamp of” (1690).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) The family includes [[cogner]], [[cognée]], [[recoin]], [[encoignure]] and [[coincer]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1160 – A solid triangle; the corner.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1164–85 – A coin die.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1179 – The woodcutter's wedge.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ * 1312 – ''Coin de la rue''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1530 – ''Coin de l'œil'', Palsgrave.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1549 – A small, secluded place.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1671 – ''Coin du feu''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1832 – ''Le café du coin''.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|corner]]: the angle formed where two lines, surfaces or streets meet: ''le coin de la table'', ''au coin de la rue''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The angle of a room, ''mettre un enfant au coin'', to make a child stand in the corner as a punishment.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # A small area, spot, part of a place: ''un coin tranquille'', ''du coin'', local, ''le petit coin'', the toilet.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A [[m|en|wedge]], used to split wood or to tighten and secure, ''enfoncer un coin'', to drive a wedge between people.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # A [[m|en|die]] for striking coins and medals, ''marqué au coin de'', bearing the stamp of.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[quignon]]

+ * [[coincer]]

+ * [[écoinçon]]

+ * [[recoin]]

+ * [[cogner]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cognée]]

+ * [[encoignure]]

+ * [[cunéiforme]]

+ * [[la|cuneus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate ''coin'' is the imitative cry of a duck, “quack”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}