couloir French · revision 16738

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=before 1105, Rashi's glosses (coledoir)|origins=la cōlum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ku.lwaʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''couloir''' ''m'' (plural couloirs)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Coledoir'' (before 1105), ''coulouer'' (1376), ''couloir'' (1378).^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|fr|couler|-oir]], from the stem of [[couler]] “to strain; to flow; to slide”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary) That verb is from [[la|cōlō|t=to filter, strain]], from [[m|la|cōlum|t=strainer]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Rashi's Judeo-French glosses (before 1105) have ''coledoir'' for a bowl with a cloth bottom for straining milk.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) A 14th-century text speaks of ''deux ou trois couloueres pour gecter le gros relief'', vessels for scraps after a meal.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Académie (1762) records ''couloir'' for a duct of the body, as in ''les couloirs de la bile''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) The modern sense, a passage, starts on ships: Trévoux (1704) uses it for the passage leading to the cabins, and Blondel (1752–56) has ''un corridor ou couloir'' in architecture.^(TLFi) Saussure (1786) uses it for a gully in mountains.^(TLFi)^(BHVF) In 1866 ''les couloirs'' are the place where unofficial information and secret dealings pass, whence ''bruits de couloir'' “rumours”.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007) The 20th century added the lane of a running track or swimming pool, a bus lane and an air corridor.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1105 – ''Coledoir'' “strainer”, Rashi.^(TLFi)

+ * 1378 – ''Couloir''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1704 – A passage on a ship, Trévoux.^(TLFi)

+ * 1752–1756 – A corridor in a building, Blondel.^(TLFi)

+ * 1786 – A mountain gully, Saussure.^(TLFi)

+ * 1866 – ''Les couloirs'' of politics.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|corridor]], passage, hallway: ''au fond du couloir'', ''les couloirs du métro''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The corridor of a train; the aisle of an aircraft: ''place côté couloir''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Les couloirs'': the lobbies of an assembly, ''bruits de couloir'', rumours.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A lane: ''couloir de bus'', ''(sport)'' the lane of a track or pool.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A [[m|en|gully]] in the mountains; a narrow passage between two regions: ''couloir aérien'', ''couloir humanitaire''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[couler]]

+ * [[coulisse]]

+ * [[corridor]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The TLFi gives a numbered entry of its own to ''couloir'', also ''couloire'', “strainer, sieve”, the oldest sense, now old-fashioned.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}