ventre French · revision 17169

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=la venter}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /vɑ̃tʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ventre''' ''m'' (plural ventres)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|venter|t=belly; womb; bulge]], from its accusative “ventrem”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|14, 248a)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word was the general term for the belly as the seat of the entrails or of the foetus, and by analogy the bulge of a vessel.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) It corresponds to [[grc|γαστήρ|tr=gastḗr|t=belly, stomach]], [[sa|उदर|tr=udára|t=belly]] and [[prg|weders]], Wiktionary gives [[ine-pro|*wend-tri-]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|ventre]], [[pro|ventre]] and [[es|vientre]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050) uses it for the womb, the seat of pregnancy.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has it for the front of the trunk: ''L'osberc desclot josque par sum le ventre'' “he breaks the hauberk open down to the belly”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As the seat of digestion it is in the ''Psautier'' of Cambridge (first half of the 12th century), and it meant the stomach by about 1165.^(TLFi) Many phrases followed: ''faire ventre'' “to grow fat” (mid-13th century), ''à ventre déboutonné'' (1532), ''remplir son ventre'' (1552), ''avoir les yeux plus grands que le ventre'' (end of the 16th century), ''prendre du ventre'' (1837).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''Sur ventre'' “at full speed” (1200) gave way to ''ventre à terre'' (1685).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''Petit ventre'' (1372, after Latin ''ventriculus'') was replaced by [[ventricule]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''Passer sur le ventre de qqn'' is found in 1452, ''c'est le ventre de ma mère, je n'y retourne plus'' in 1614, ''avoir qqch. dans le ventre'' in Furetière (1690) and ''danse du ventre'' in Zola (1880).^(TLFi)^(BHVF) Saint-Exupéry uses it of an aircraft's underside (1928).^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – The womb, ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

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

+ * c. 1165 – The stomach, Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^(TLFi)

+ * 1452 – ''Passer sur le ventre''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1532 – ''À ventre déboutonné''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1685 – ''Ventre à terre''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1880 – ''Danse du ventre'', Zola.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|belly]], [[m|en|stomach]], abdomen: ''dormir sur le ventre'', ''à plat ventre'', ''avoir mal au ventre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # The womb: ''dès le ventre de sa mère''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A paunch: ''prendre du ventre''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # The bulging part of an object; the underside of a vehicle or aircraft.^(GLLF 1989)^(BHVF)

+ # ''(physics)'' An [[m|en|antinode]].^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' ''Avoir quelque chose dans le ventre'': to have guts, courage, ''ventre à terre'', at full speed.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ventru]]

+ * [[ventrée]]

+ * [[ventrière]]

+ * [[sous-ventrière]]

+ * [[éventrer]]

+ * [[bas-ventre]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ventral]]

+ * [[ventriloquie]]

+ * [[ventripotent]]

+ * [[ventricule]]

+ * [[ventriloque]]

+ * [[la|venter]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}