poitrine French · revision 16656

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (peitrine)|origins=la pectus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pwa.tʁin/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''poitrine''' ''f'' (plural poitrines)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''peitrine'' (about 1050), Middle French ''poiterine'' (1280).^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|peitrine]], [[inh|la-vul|*pectorīna]], the feminine used as a noun of an adjective [[m|la-vul|*pectorīnus]], from [[la|pectus|t=breast, chest]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|8, 110a)^(Wiktionary) The same Vulgar Latin word gave [[it|pettorina]] and [[es|pretina]], both names of belts.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The Latin noun itself gave [[pis]], which in the 16th–17th century narrowed to “udder”, leaving this word for the human chest; the Rhône region also has a form pitre, from the Latin accusative.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989) The Grand Robert and Bloch–Wartburg note that the Old French word first meant a breastplate or the breast harness of a horse.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Compare [[ro|piept]], [[it|petto]], [[oc|piech]], [[es|pecho]] and [[pt|peito]], from the Latin noun.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050) has ''debatre sa peitrine'' “to beat one's breast”, the front of the rib cage.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Wace (1155) uses it for the part of the trunk between the shoulders and the abdomen.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) About 1165 it also meant a woman's breasts, a use that became rare from the 16th to the 18th century, was called popular by Boiste in 1834, and spread to all styles after 1850.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ In the 17th century the word was thought “low”: Malherbe wished it used rarely, and Vaugelas (1647) says it was condemned in prose and verse because one says ''poitrine de veau'', ''estomac'' was often used instead.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It survived in medicine, in ''mal de poitrine'' (1600) and ''poitrine empêchée'' (1611), and only became an unmarked word again in the early 19th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) La Bruyère (1688) uses it for a preacher's voice.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Peitrine'', ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1155 – The chest, Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – A woman's breasts.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1600 – ''Mal de poitrine'', Olivier de Serres.^(TLFi)

+ * 1647 – Vaugelas reports that the word is condemned.^(TLFi)

+ * 1688 – “Voice”, La Bruyère.^(TLFi)

+ * Early 19th century – An unmarked word again.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|chest]]: ''tour de poitrine'', ''respirer à pleine poitrine'', ''se frapper la poitrine''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A woman's breasts, bust: ''avoir de la poitrine''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated)'' The lungs, as diseased: ''s'en aller de la poitrine'', ''angine de poitrine'', angina pectoris.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(BHVF)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(cooking)'' Breast: ''poitrine de veau''; breast of poultry.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Voix de poitrine'': chest voice.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[poitrinaire]]

+ * [[poitriner]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[expectorer]]

+ * [[pectoral]]

+ * [[pis]]

+ * [[poitrail]]

+ * [[sein]]

+ * [[la|pectus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}