drap French · revision 17503

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 11th century, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=la-lat drappus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dʁa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''drap''' ''m'' (plural draps)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|drap]], [[inh|la-lat|drappus|t=piece of cloth, rag]], a word recorded from the 5th century and probably of Gaulish origin, since Gaulish had the personal names Drappus, Drappo and Draponus.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|3, 154b) Wiktionary notes that the Late Latin word is first found in the capitularies of Charlemagne.^(Wiktionary) Littré's Germanic explanation is no longer held.^(Littré 1873)

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+ Cognate with [[it|drappo]] and [[es|trapo|t=rag]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

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+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (late 11th century) has ''dras'' for cloth, here the cloths that covered the saint as he lay under the stairs.^(TLF-Étym)

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+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the middle of the 12th century to 1541 the plural ''draps'' also meant clothes, as in Wace's ''Vie de saint Nicolas''.^(TLF-Étym)^(DHLF 1992) The sense “bed sheet” is found about 1165 in Marie de France's ''Lanval'', always in the plural in Old French; the singular is recorded in 1389–1392, together with ''drap de lit''.^(TLF-Étym) In this sense it displaced [[linceul]], which came to mean a shroud.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

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+ It also names a woollen fabric whose fibres are felted by fulling, with ''drap d'or'' and ''drap de soie'' for fabrics woven with gold or silk.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989) The ironic phrase ''être dans de beaux draps'' “to be in a fine mess” is from the 19th century; it may continue ''estre couché en blancs draps'' “to be in a bad way” (late 16th century) and Molière's ''se mettre dans de beaux draps blancs'' (1659).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In Belgium ''drap'' also means a towel.^(Larousse)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 11th century – ''Dras'' “cloth” in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLF-Étym)

+ * c. 1165 – “Bed sheets”, in Marie de France.^(TLF-Étym)

+ * Mid-12th century – ''Draz'' “clothes”, in Wace.^(TLF-Étym)

+ * 1389–1392 – The singular “sheet” and ''drap de lit''.^(TLF-Étym)

+ * Late 16th century – ''Estre couché en blancs draps''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1659 – ''Se mettre dans de beaux draps blancs'', in Molière.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A bed [[m|en|sheet]]: ''drap de dessous'', ''drap de dessus'', ''une paire de draps''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # Woollen [[m|en|cloth]] felted by [[foulage|alt=fulling]]: ''un drap fin'', ''drap d'or'', cloth of gold.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Drap de bain'': a large bath towel, ''(Belgium)'' a towel.^(DHLF 1992)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Être dans de beaux draps'': to be in a fine mess.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[drapeau]]

+ * [[draper]]

+ * [[drapier]]

+ * [[draperie]]

+ * [[porte-drapeau]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la-lat|drappus]]

+ * [[en|drape]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}