volant French · revision 38570

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 1140, Pèlerinage de Charlemagne|origins=la volō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /vɔ.lɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''volant''' (feminine volante, masculine plural volants, feminine plural volantes)^(Wiktionary)

+ As a noun, '''volant''' ''m'' (plural ''volants'').^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|fr|voler|-ant|t1=to fly]], the present participle of the verb, used as an adjective from about 1140 and as a noun from 1366.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992) [[voler]] is [[inh|la|volō|t=to fly]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ The French noun was borrowed into [[it|volano]]; the Spanish counterpart, formed in the same way, is [[es|volante|t=shuttlecock]].^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Pèlerinage de Charlemagne'' (about 1140) speaks of ''oiseaus volanz'' “flying birds”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The noun first named, in 1366, a sail of a windmill.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The adjective meant “fickle, light” in 1226, and, from the idea of quick, free movement came the sense “movable, mobile” (1414), as in ''camp volant'' (1548), ''table volante'' (1769) and the mobile units of ''brigades volantes''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) It was then applied to things that do not normally fly: ''poisson volant'' (1529), ''fusée volante'' (1655), ''machine volante'' (1678, then the first powered aircraft in 1851), ''soucoupe volante'' (1947), and in aviation ''personnel volant'' (1954).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Feuille volante'', a loose sheet, dates from 1632, and ''vérole volante'' “chickenpox” (1660) is now out of use.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The noun named a part of a bridge (1391) and, in machinery, a vane regulating a movement (1437), later the flywheel of an engine (1731).^(DHLF 1992) The shuttlecock is recorded in 1611, the game in 1671.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) A loose cloak (1584) and then a flounce sewn on a skirt (before 1673, Molière) were also called ''volant''.^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) The steering wheel of a car appears in 1860, first competing with ''guidon'', and by metonymy ''volant'' meant driving (1903, ''chevalier du volant'').^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1140 – ''Oiseaus volanz'' in the ''Pèlerinage de Charlemagne''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1366 – The noun, a windmill sail.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1414 – “Movable, mobile”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1529 – ''Poisson volant''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1611 – The shuttlecock.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1632 – ''Feuille volante''.^(TLFi)

+ * before 1673 – A flounce, in Molière.^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1731 – The flywheel of an engine.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1860 – The steering wheel of a car.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ * 1947 – ''Soucoupe volante''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|flying|alt=Flying]], able to rise and move in the air, of a creature or thing that normally cannot: ''poisson volant'', ''tapis volant'', ''soucoupe volante''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(aviation)'' Of flight crews and aircraft: ''le personnel volant''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(literary)'' Seeming to fly, floating in the wind: ''draperie volante''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Easily moved, not fixed: ''feuille volante'', ''pont volant''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(military, police)'' Mobile, not at a fixed post: ''brigade volante''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|steering wheel]] of a car; by extension, driving: ''être au volant''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(technical)'' A [[m|en|flywheel]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|shuttlecock]], and the game played with it.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|flounce]], a strip of fabric sewn on by one edge: ''une jupe à volants''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' ''Volant de sécurité'': a reserve or margin that keeps a process steady.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' A sail of a windmill.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[volante]]

+ * [[volanter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[voler]]

+ * [[vol]]

+ * [[volée]]

+ * [[volet]]

+ * [[la|volō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The Grand Robert has a third ''volant'', a regional and technical name for a billhook (1441), a dialect word from [[xtg|*volammo|t=sickle]], altered after ''volant'' “flying”.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|14, 597a)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}