toilette French · revision 16966

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1352, accounts of Étienne de la Fontaine|origins=la tela}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /twa.lɛt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''toilette''' ''f'' (plural toilettes)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Tellette'' and ''teillette'' (1352); ''toilette'' from 1460, ''thoilette'' in 1599.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|fr|toile|-ette]], “little cloth”,^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) from [[la|tēla|t=web, cloth]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Littré explains the later senses after Laborde: the cloth that held a woman's dressing articles was spread on a table, which took its name, as did the whole business of dressing before it.^(Littré 1873) Compare [[pro|teleta|t=thin film]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The accounts of Étienne de la Fontaine, silversmith to King John, mention in 1352 ''tellettes a envelopper'', small cloths for wrapping clothes.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant a cambric cloth in 1460 and, in butchery, the caul used to wrap certain cuts (1555).^(TLFi) Bloch and Wartburg note that “little cloth” remained the usual sense until the 16th century; hence the ''marchande à la toilette'' (1723), a dealer in second-hand clothes and finery, and Lesage's ''revendeuse à la toilette'' (1709).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ From the end of the 16th century it was the cloth spread on a table for the articles used to wash, do one's hair and adorn oneself (1599, inventory of Gabrielle d'Estrées), then those articles themselves (1661), and the furniture: ''coffre de toilette'' (1690), ''table de toilette'' (1705), ''cabinet de toilette'' (1740).^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The act of getting ready to appear in public is in the Cardinal de Retz (1679), and Madame de Sévigné writes of the hour when a great lady received visitors at her toilette (1690).^(TLFi)

+

+ A woman's dress and finery as a whole is in Restif de la Bretonne (1776), and a particular dress in 1789.^(TLFi) The 19th century added washing and personal care: ''serviette de toilette'' (1819), the whole of one's washing (1842), ''papier de toilette'' (1902).^(TLFi) ''La toilette d'un condamné'', the preparation of a man for execution, is in Victor Hugo (1829), and Zola uses it for preparing a manuscript (1881).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1352 – ''Tellettes'' for wrapping clothes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1555 – The caul in butchery.^(TLFi)

+ * 1599 – The cloth of a dressing table.^(TLFi)

+ * 1679 – Getting ready to appear in public (Retz).^(TLFi)

+ * 1705 – ''Table de toilette''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1709 – ''Revendeuse à la toilette'', in Lesage.^(TLFi)

+ * 1740 – ''Cabinet de toilette''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1776 – A woman's attire.^(TLFi)

+ * 1800 – ''Faire un petit brin de toilette''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1842 – Personal washing.^(TLFi)

+ * 1902 – ''Papier de toilette''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Washing and grooming oneself: ''faire sa toilette'', ''gant de toilette'', a face flannel, ''trousse de toilette'', a toilet bag, ''eau de toilette''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # A woman's outfit, dress: ''une toilette élégante''.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ # ''Toilettes'' (plural): the [[m|en|toilet]], [[m|en|lavatory]], ''(Belgium, North America)'' in the singular, ''la toilette''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(formerly)'' A [[m|en|dressing table]].^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ # ''(butchery)'' The [[m|en|caul]], a fatty membrane used to wrap meat.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(dated)'' A piece of cloth for wrapping goods, ''marchande à la toilette'', a dealer in second-hand clothes.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[toile]]

+ * [[la|tela]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}