manteau French · revision 16964

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 980, Passion de Clermont|origins=la mantellum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɑ̃.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''manteau''' ''m'' (plural manteaux)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|mantel]] (about 980), ''menteaul'', ''manteaul'' (about 1300); ''manteau'' from 1514.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|mantel]], [[inh|la|mantellum|t=covering, cloak]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|6/1, 272a) a variant of [[m|la|mantēlum]] (already in Plautus in the sense “veil”), related to [[m|la|mantēlium|t=napkin, towel]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873) Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF take it as a diminutive of [[m|la|mantum|t=cloak]], which Isidore records only in the 7th century and calls Spanish, though it must be older;^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989) Rey instead sees that word as a back-formation, the source of [[mante]].^(DHLF 1992) Littré reports Varro's derivation of the word for a napkin from [[m|la|manus|t=hand]], since hands were wiped on it.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|mantello]], [[pro|mantel]] and [[ca|mantell]];^(REW 1935)^(Littré 1873) [[es|manteo]] and [[ro|manta]] come from French.^(REW 1935) The Old French word gave [[en|mantle]], and the modern one [[m|en|manteau]] (1670s) and, altered after the city of Mantua, [[m|en|mantua]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Passion'' of Clermont (late 10th century) has ''mantel'', a garment hanging from the shoulders to below the knees and worn over all the others.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the Middle Ages it also named a sleeveless cloak worn by great persons, nobles, lawyers, clerics and knights of the orders (about 1180), and the train of a formal dress.^(DHLF 1992) It could be a garment worn indoors: ''manteau de nuit'' (1514), ''manteau de lit'' (1740), later replaced by ''robe de chambre''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Figuratively ''sous le mantel de'' meant “under the pretext of” (1580), and ''sous le manteau'' “secretly” is recorded by Pomey in 1671, ''garder les manteaux'', “to watch while others have fun”, is in the Académie in 1694.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Rôle à manteau'' (1752) was a part of grave old man in comedy.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+

+ By analogy it named the part of an animal's coat on the back and flanks when of a different colour (1221–1250, ''Plait Renart''), a bird's plumage (1636) and the mantle of molluscs (1803).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The ''mantel de cheminée'', the mantelpiece, is recorded in 1332.^(TLFi) Today the word names a long-sleeved overcoat.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) Among its derivatives [[mantelet]] is from the 12th century, and [[démanteler]] (1563) comes through ''manteler'' “to cover with a cloak”, hence “to fortify”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 980 – ''Mantel'' in the ''Passion''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1221–1250 – An animal's coat, in the ''Plait Renart''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1300 – ''Menteaul''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1332 – ''Mantel de cheminée''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1514 – The form ''manteau'', ''manteau de nuit''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – ''Sous le mantel de'' “under pretext of”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1670s – English ''manteau''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1671 – ''Sous le manteau'' (Pomey).^(TLFi)

+ * 1803 – The mantle of molluscs.^(TLFi)

+ * 1830 – A cavalry greatcoat.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|coat]], [[m|en|overcoat]]: ''manteau de fourrure'', ''de cuir''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(historical)'' A cloak, [[m|en|mantle]], especially a ceremonial one: ''manteau de cour''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Sous le manteau'': secretly, clandestinely.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Manteau de cheminée'': a [[m|en|mantelpiece]].^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(zoology)'' The back and wings of a bird, or the back of a mammal, when of a different colour; the mantle of a mollusc.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(geology)'' The Earth's mantle.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(heraldry)'' A pavilion.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mantelet]]

+ * [[démanteler]]

+ * [[démantèlement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mante]]

+ * [[mantille]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}