chat French · revision 17210

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1160–85, Guillaume d'Angleterre|origins=la-lat cattus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʃa/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Canada): [ʃɑ]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Canada): [ʃɔ]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''chat''' ''m'' (plural chats, feminine chatte)^(Wiktionary)

+ The feminine ''chate'' is found in the first half of the 13th century, in the ''Roman de Renart''; modern ''chatte''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|cattus|t=cat]], a late Latin word first found in the 4th century (Palladius), with a feminine “catta”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|2, 515a) It replaced [[m|la|fēlēs]] (see [[félin]]), which also meant the wild cat, the domestic cat being a late arrival in Rome.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The further origin is uncertain: Bloch and Wartburg and Rey think it probably came from an African language, comparing Nubian “kadis” and Berber “kaddiska”; the Petit Robert also mentions a Gaulish origin.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) Littré thought it Celtic or Germanic.^(Littré 1873) The REW gives the forms with /k/ (Picard “ca”) as northern and south-eastern French.^(REW 1935)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|gatto]], [[oc|cat]], [[ca|gat]], [[es|gato]] and [[pt|gato]].^(REW 1935)^(Petit Robert 2007) Bloch and Wartburg take [[en|cat]] and [[de|Katze]] from the Romance word.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The word is first found in Chrétien de Troyes' ''Guillaume d'Angleterre'' (1160–85) and his ''Chevalier au lion'' (1177–80), meaning the [[m|en|cat]].^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It named both the species and the domestic animal, especially the male beside ''chatte''.^(DHLF 1992) In the Middle Ages it was also a siege engine, a covered shed to protect besiegers (12th century).^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)^(AND) Mme de Sévigné has ''mon petit chat'' as an endearment (1672).^(TLFi)

+

+ Proverbs and phrases are many: ''chat échaudé craint l'eau froide'' is already medieval (''Chaz eschaudez iaue crient''), ''ne pas trouver un chat'' is Voltaire's, and ''avoir un chat dans la gorge'' is recorded by the Académie in 1835.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi) Rey explains ''écrire comme un chat'' (1853) by the slang ''greffier'' “cat”, punning on ''griffe'', and ''donner sa langue au chat'' as a softening of ''jeter sa langue aux chiens''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The ''chat à neuf queues'' (1845) translates English ''cat-o'-nine-tails''.^(TLFi) The game ''chat perché'' is in Labiche (1852).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1160–85 – Chrétien de Troyes, ''Guillaume d'Angleterre''.^(TLFi)

+ * 12th century – A siege engine, Herman de Valenciennes.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 13th century – The feminine ''chate''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1295 – ''Chattemite''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1532 – Rabelais' ''Chatz fourrez'', judges.^(TLFi)

+ * 1672 – ''Mon petit chat'', Mme de Sévigné.^(TLFi)

+ * 1835 – ''Avoir un chat dans la gorge''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1845 – ''Chat à neuf queues''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1852 – ''Chat perché''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|cat]], the small domestic feline; especially the male, the [[m|en|tomcat]]: ''chat de gouttière''.^(Le Robert)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(zoology)'' Any animal of the cat family: ''chat sauvage''.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(familiar)'' A term of endearment: ''mon chat''.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # A children's game of [[m|en|tag]]: ''jouer à chat'', ''chat perché''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In phrases: ''il n'y a pas un chat'', there is nobody there, ''avoir un chat dans la gorge'', ''donner sa langue au chat'', to give up guessing.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[chatte]]

+ * [[chaton]]

+ * [[chatière]]

+ * [[chatterie]]

+ * [[chattemite]]

+ * [[chatoyer]]

+ * [[chat-tigre]]

+ * [[langue-de-chat]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la-lat|cattus]]

+ * [[en|cat]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Chat'' pronounced /tʃat/ is a separate word, borrowed from English ''chat'' about 1997–1999 for an online conversation; the official recommendation is ''causette'', and Quebec says ''clavardage''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}