papier French · revision 17322

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=late 13th–early 14th century, Douai (papiers)|origins=grc πάπυρος}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pa.pje/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''papier''' ''m'' (plural papiers)^(Wiktionary)

+ Early forms include ''paupier'' (Troyes, 1355) and ''pauppier'' (Lorraine, 1451).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It came in through Italian trade as [[bor|la-med|paperium]], the Medieval Latin of Italy, a form of [[la|papȳrus|t=papyrus; paper made from it]] with a changed suffix.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) Rey derives it instead from a popular Latin “*papilus”, an altered form of “papȳrus”, Wiktionary gives Old Catalan [[m|ca|paper]] as the source, while Meyer-Lübke has the Catalan word come from French.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)^(REW 1935)^(FEW|7, 590a) The Latin word is from [[grc|πάπυρος|tr=pápuros|t=Egyptian reed]], itself of Egyptian origin.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Papyrus sheets were exported from Egypt to western Europe until about the end of the 8th century, when parchment took over; rag paper, invented in China, was made by the Arabs after the capture of Samarkand (751), brought by them into Spain and then northern Italy, where Medieval Latin “papirus” is found at Genoa in 1163, and it received the old name of papyrus.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) Latin also called the papyrus sheet [[m|la|charta]], the source of [[carte]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in a document from Douai of the late 13th or early 14th century, ''Queval qui porte papiers'' (“a horse carrying paper”), and a paper mill (''moulin à paupier'') is recorded at Troyes in 1355.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Paper mills were working in eastern France by the mid-14th century.^(DHLF 1992) From 1308 the word also meant a written register, then any written document, ''papiers'' are a person's documents.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary) In the 16th and 17th centuries it entered many phrases: ''papier peint'' (1593), ''papier timbré'' (Madame de Sévigné, 1675), ''papier réglé'' (1680) and ''papier de musique'' (1690); ''papier mâché'' appears at the end of the 17th century, ''papier verré'', later ''papier de verre'', in 1760, and ''papier hygiénique'' in 1901.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ''En papier'' “on paper, in theory” is found in 1587, and ''être bien (ou mal) dans les papiers de quelqu'un'' in the Académie's dictionary of 1798.^(TLFi) ''Papier-monnaie'' (1727), coined during John Law's speculations, is a calque of English ''paper money''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In Quebec sandpaper is ''papier sablé'', after English.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 13th–early 14th century – ''Papiers'' at Douai.^(TLFi)

+ * 1308 – A register for letters.^(TLFi)

+ * 1355 – ''Moulin à paupier'' at Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1414 – The derivative ''papetier''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1593 – ''Papier peint''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1675 – ''Papier timbré'' in Madame de Sévigné.^(TLFi)

+ * 1727 – ''Papier-monnaie''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1760 – ''Papier verré''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1901 – ''Papier hygiénique''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|paper]]: ''une feuille de papier'', ''pâte à papier''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # A piece of paper; a written document: ''des papiers importants''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(plural)'' Identity papers; [[m|en|paperwork]].^(Wiktionary)

+ # An article in a newspaper.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Papier peint'': [[m|en|wallpaper]], ''papier de verre'': sandpaper, ''papier hygiénique'': toilet paper.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Sur le papier'': on paper, in theory.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Être dans les petits papiers de quelqu'un'': to be in someone's good books.^(TLFi)

+ # ''Papier mâché'': papier mâché, ''(figurative)'' ''une mine de papier mâché'', a sickly complexion.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[paperasse]]

+ * [[papetier]]

+ * [[papeterie]]

+ * [[papier-monnaie]]

+ * [[sans-papiers]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[papyrus]]

+ * [[carte]]

+ * [[la|papȳrus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}