jambe French · revision 17329

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (gambes)|origins=grc καμπή}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʒɑ̃b/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''jambe''' ''f'' (plural jambes)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-lat|gamba|t=pastern or hock of a horse]], a veterinary word extended to other four-legged animals and then to people.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|2, 111a) The Latin word was a popular borrowing of [[grc|καμπή|tr=kampḗ|t=bend; joint of a horse's foot]], which Rey compares with [[lt|kampas|t=corner]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989) It drove out the classical word for the leg, [[m|la|crūs]], while Spanish and Portuguese took [[m|la|perna|t=ham]] instead ([[es|pierna]], [[pt|perna]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The form “camba” lives on in Old Occitan and in the dialects south of a line from the Gironde to Romand Switzerland.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|gamba]], [[oc|camba]] and [[ca|cama]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) uses it of a horse: ''Pieds a copiez et les gambes a plates'' (“it has hollow hooves and flat legs”).^(Littré 1873)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is used of a person's leg from about 1150.^(DHLF 1992) By analogy it named the upright of a doorway (1321), the legs of a pair of compasses (1546), a strut in carpentry (''jambe de force'', 1609) and a wooden leg (1564), whence ''un cautère sur une jambe de bois'' “a useless remedy” (1808).^(DHLF 1992) English ''jamb'' was taken from it.^(AND)

+

+ Many phrases date from the 17th century on: ''prendre ses jambes à son col'' (1618), later ''à son cou'' (1690); ''par-dessous la jambe'' (1671), later ''par-dessus la jambe'' (1844), probably from ball games; and ''cela me fait une belle jambe'', used ironically by 1656.^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) ''Tenir la jambe à quelqu'un'' “to buttonhole someone” dates from 1901 and ''partie de jambes en l'air'' from 1894.^(DHLF 1992) The leg of a pair of trousers is ''jambe'' in Zola (1879).^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – Of a horse, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(Littré 1873)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * c. 1150 – A human leg.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1321 – A door jamb.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1564 – ''Jambe de bois''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1618 – ''Prendre ses jambes à son col''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1656 – Ironic ''cela me fait une belle jambe''.^(BHVF)

+ * 1879 – The leg of a garment, in Zola.^(BHVF)

+ * 1901 – ''Tenir la jambe à quelqu'un''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(anatomy)'' The [[m|en|leg]] between knee and ankle.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # The whole leg: ''avoir de longues jambes''.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # The leg of an animal.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # The leg of a pair of trousers.^(Larousse)^(BHVF)

+ # ''(building)'' A pier or strut: ''jambe de force''.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Prendre ses jambes à son cou'': to take to one's heels.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Par-dessus la jambe'': offhandedly, ''tenir la jambe à quelqu'un'': to buttonhole someone.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(ironic)'' ''Ça me fait une belle jambe'': a fat lot of good that does me.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[jambage]]

+ * [[jambette]]

+ * [[jambier]]

+ * [[jambière]]

+ * [[jambon]]

+ * [[enjambé]]

+ * [[enjambée]]

+ * [[enjamber]]

+ * [[entrejambe]]

+ * [[unijambiste]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gambade]]

+ * [[ingambe]]

+ * [[grc|καμπή|tr=kampḗ]]

+ * [[en|jamb]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}