poil French · revision 16770

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pwal/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''poil''' ''m'' (plural poils)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|peil]] (1080); ''poil'' from about 1175.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|peil]], [[inh|la|pilus|t=a hair; figuratively, a trifle]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|8, 509b)^(Wiktionary) which named a single hair, as opposed to the collective [[m|la|capillus]] (see [[cheveu]]), and with a negation a thing of no importance.^(DHLF 1992) Its origin is obscure: Rey notes that there is no Indo-European noun for this notion.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|păr]], [[it|pelo]], [[es|pelo]], [[oc|pel]], [[ca|pèl]], [[pt|pelo]] and [[eu|bilo]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) uses ''peil'' collectively for a person's hair: ''Et Blancandrins i vint al chenu peil'', “Blancandrin came there with his white hair”, and ''deit hum perdre e del quir e del peil'', “a man must lose skin and hair” for his lord.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the collective sense came the now dated uses for a beard (1655) and for the hair of the head, and by analogy the coat of an animal (Chrétien de Troyes, about 1170, of a horse).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) A single hair is recorded before the end of the 12th century, and a fur pelt about 1190.^(DHLF 1992) It was extended to the pile of velvet (1395), to ''poil de chèvre'' (1663), to the down of plants (15th century) and ''poil à gratter'' (1890).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) Old French already had ''poil d'erbe'' for a trifle (13th century).^(TLFi)

+

+ Many phrases followed: ''encontre poil'' (1176–84), later ''à rebrousse-poil'', ''un brave à trois poils'' (Molière, 1659); ''de tout poil'' (La Fontaine, 1671); ''avoir un poil dans la main'' “to be lazy” (1808); ''être de mauvais poil'' (1833); ''à poil'' “stark naked” (1858); ''au poil'' “just right” (1918).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) The derivative [[poilu]] took in popular French the sense “strong, brave”, and the soldier of 1914–18.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Peil'', ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1170 – A horse's coat, Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1176–84 – ''Encontre poil''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1395 – The pile of velvet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1659 – ''Un brave à trois poils'', Molière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1808 – ''Avoir un poil dans la main''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1858 – ''À poil'' “naked”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1918 – ''Au poil'' “perfectly”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|hair]] on the body of a person or animal; body hair: ''poil pubien''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # An animal's coat, ''de tout poil'', of every kind.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|bristle]] of a brush; the pile of a fabric.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''Un poil'': a tiny bit, ''à un poil près'', ''d'un poil'', by a whisker.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''À poil'': naked, ''au poil'', perfect, great, ''de mauvais poil'', in a bad mood.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Avoir un poil dans la main'': to be [[m|en|lazy]], ''reprendre du poil de la bête'', to pick up again, ''à rebrousse-poil'', the wrong way.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Poil à gratter'': itching powder.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[poilu]]

+ * [[pelage]]

+ * [[poiler]]

+ * [[poilant]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cheveu]]

+ * [[épiler]]

+ * [[pileux]]

+ * [[pelouse]]

+ * [[horripiler]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}