vitre French · revision 17520

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1269–1278, Jean de Meun, Roman de la Rose|origins=la vitrum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /vitʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''vitre''' ''f'' (plural vitres)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|vitrum|t=glass]], a learned doublet of [[verre]], the inherited outcome of the same Latin word.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|14, 568a) The derivative [[vitreux]] is found earlier, in 1256.^(DHLF 1992) Compare [[es|vidrio]] and [[ca|vidre]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Jean de Meun uses it in the ''Roman de la Rose'' (1269–1278) for glass as a material: a ring ''plus clere que cristal ne vitre''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In 1370 it meant a glazed window, and in 1454 a large stained-glass window, now archaic.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The modern sense, a pane of glass in a window, dates from 1549, the same year Du Bellay used it for a glass placed in front of something precious, such as relics.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Bloch and Wartburg note that glazing windows, unknown to the ancients, developed in the Middle Ages.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Oudin (1660) records it for the window of a carriage or a shop.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Rousseau (before 1778) has ''casser les vitres'' figuratively, “to speak with brutal frankness”, later “to cause a scandal”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In Quebec French it still means glass as a material.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1256 – The derivative ''vitreux''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1269–1278 – “Glass”, in Jean de Meun.^(TLFi)

+ * 1370 – A glazed window.^(TLFi)

+ * 1370 – The derivative ''vitrier''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1549 – A pane of glass in a window.^(TLFi)

+ * 1660 – The window of a carriage, in Oudin.^(TLFi)

+ * Before 1778 – ''Casser les vitres'', in Rousseau.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|windowpane]], a pane of glass in a window or door: ''nettoyer les vitres'', ''faire les vitres''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # The window of a vehicle: ''baisser la vitre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A glass panel protecting something on display.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Casser les vitres'': to make a scene, ''ça ne casse pas les vitres'', it is nothing special.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(Quebec)'' Glass as a material.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[vitrage]]

+ * [[vitrail]]

+ * [[vitrer]]

+ * [[vitrier]]

+ * [[vitrine]]

+ * [[vitrerie]]

+ * [[vitré]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[verre]]

+ * [[vitreux]]

+ * [[la|vitrum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}