trottoir French · revision 16905

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1577, Vigenère, translation of Chalcondyle|origins=frk *trottōn}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tʁɔ.twaʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''trottoir''' ''m'' (plural trottoirs)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Trottouer'' (1577), ''trouttouer'' (1625).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|fr|trotter|-oir]], “a place for trotting”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary) [[trotter]] is [[bor|frk|*trottōn]], an intensive form of the family of [[de|treten|t=to tread]]; compare [[m|de|trotten]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first records are figurative: ''être sur le trottouer'' “to be in view, on the front of the stage” (1577, Vigenère), and in Montaigne (before 1592) ''se jeter bien avant sur le trottoir'' “to put oneself forward”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Duez (1660) has it for the track where horse dealers trotted their horses, and the Académie (1694) says of a girl that she is ''sur le trottoir'' when of an age to marry.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Littré notes that it was first the footway along the quays of Paris; the raised walkway for pedestrians at the sides of a street is first clearly attested in Mercier's ''Tableau de Paris'' (1782).^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+

+ ''Faire le trottoir'' “to walk the streets, solicit” is recorded in 1852, and ''le trottoir'' for the world of prostitution in Delvau (1867).^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007) Theatre slang called the classical repertory ''le grand trottoir'' (1840) and melodramas and vaudevilles ''le petit trottoir'' (1866).^(TLFi) The ''trottoir roulant'' “moving walkway” was shown at the Exposition of 1900.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1577 – ''Être sur le trottouer'' “to be in view”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * before 1592 – ''Se jeter sur le trottoir'', in Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1660 – A track for trotting horses, in Duez.^(TLFi)

+ * 1694 – ''Être sur le trottoir'', of a girl of marriageable age.^(TLFi)

+ * 1782 – A raised footway beside a street, in Mercier.^(TLFi)

+ * 1852 – ''Faire le trottoir''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ * 1900 – ''Trottoir roulant''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|pavement]], [[m|en|sidewalk]], the raised path for pedestrians at the side of a street.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Faire le trottoir'': to walk the streets, work as a prostitute.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Trottoir roulant'': a moving walkway.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(dated)'' A raised walkway along a quay or bridge.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' A track where horses are trotted.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[trotter]]

+ * [[trot]]

+ * [[trottiner]]

+ * [[trottinette]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}