chaise French · revision 17072

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1420, inventory of the château de Vincennes (chaeze)|origins=grc καθέδρα}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʃɛz/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''chaise''' ''f'' (plural chaises)^(Wiktionary)

+ Middle French ''chaeze'' (1420), ''chaize'' (1470), ''chayze'' (16th century).^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a dialect variant: [[inh|frm|chaire]], [[inh|la|cathedra|t=seat, armchair]], [[bor|grc|καθέδρα|tr=kathédra]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) The /r/ between vowels became /z/ in the dialects of the Centre and the south-east of the langue d'oïl, and the change was heard in Paris in the 15th century, where people said “pèze” for “père”; 16th-century witnesses such as Palsgrave, Erasmus and Marot comment on it.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The change was later reversed almost everywhere, and survives only in “chaise” and in [[besicles|alt=bésicles]], earlier “béricle”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Littré calls it a faulty Parisian pronunciation that usage accepted.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ “Chaire” and “chaise” named the same objects until the 17th century; then “chaise” was kept for the everyday seat and “chaire” for special senses such as the pulpit and the professor's chair, as Vaugelas noted in 1647.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Both are doublets of the learned [[cathèdre]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The form ''chaeze'' is found in 1420 in an inventory of the château de Vincennes, for a seat; the FEW points to a record from 1380.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 17th century the ''chaise'' still mattered in court etiquette, where it was kept for the princes of the blood; at Richelieu's urging it replaced the bench at table, and ''chaise à bras'' gave way to [[fauteuil]].^(DHLF 1992) Several phrases named quite different seats: ''chaise percée'', a close stool (1470), ''chaise portative'' (1556) and then ''chaise à porteurs'', a sedan chair (1690), and ''chaise roulante'' (1668); in classical French these vehicles were simply called ''chaise''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''Chaise longue'' (1710, Saint-Simon) spread in the 20th century with seaside holidays, for a folding deckchair, Canadian French has ''chaise berçante'' “rocking chair” from 1824.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The proverbial ''être entre deux chaises'' “to be in an uncertain position” is recorded in 1845.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Richelet's dictionary (1680) uses the word for the timber frame on which a windmill turns, and sailors used it for a rope sling holding a man at work (1831).^(TLFi) English borrowed it as ''chaise'' “pleasure carriage” in 1701.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1380 – Earliest record, according to the FEW.^(TLFi)

+ * 1420 – ''Chaeze'' in an inventory of the château de Vincennes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1470 – ''Chaize percée'', in the accounts of Louis XI.^(TLFi)

+ * 1647 – Vaugelas separates ''chaise'' from ''chaire''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1668 – ''Chaise roulante'', Molière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''Chaise à porteurs''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1701 – English borrows ''chaise'' for a light carriage.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1710 – ''Chaise longue'', Saint-Simon.^(TLFi)

+ * 1845 – ''Être entre deux chaises''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1890 – ''Chaise électrique''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|chair]]: a seat with legs and a back but no arms, for one person: ''chaise pliante'', ''chaise de cuisine''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Être assis entre deux chaises'': to be in an uncertain, unstable position.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''La politique de la chaise vide'': a [[m|en|boycott]] of a meeting out of disapproval.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Chaise longue'': a [[m|en|deckchair]] or reclining chair, ''chaise haute'', a high chair, ''chaise roulante'', a [[m|en|wheelchair]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Chaise électrique'': the [[m|en|electric chair]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(historical)'' ''Chaise percée'', a close stool, ''chaise à porteurs'', a [[m|en|sedan chair]]; a light horse-drawn carriage.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(technical)'' A frame supporting a machine or a bell, ''nœud de chaise'', a [[m|en|bowline]] knot.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[chaisière]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chaire]]

+ * [[cathèdre]]

+ * [[la|cathedra]]

+ * [[en|chaise]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}