constable English · revision 39609

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=a1240, Sawles Warde|origins=la-lat comes stabulī}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈkʌn.stə.bəl/, /ˈkɒn.stə.bəl/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈkɑn.stə.bəl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|conestable]], [[bor|fro|conestable]] (also [[m|fro|cunestable]]; modern [[m|fr|connétable]]),^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) recorded in Anglo-Norman from 1130.^(AND) The French word continues [[la-lat|comes stabulī|t=count of the stable]], the title of the officer in charge of the stables,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(Ayto 2005) made of [[m|la|comes|t=companion; officer, count]] and [[m|la|stabulī]], the genitive of [[m|la|stabulum|t=stable, standing place]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(Klein 1966) The title appears in the Theodosian Code of 438 and in Gregory of Tours (575), and later took the forms [[la-med|conestabulus]] and [[m|la-med|comestabilis]];^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) Skeat quotes a document of 807 that says the count of the stable is wrongly called ''conestabulus''.^(OED 2026) Etymonline thinks the Latin phrase is probably a loan translation of a Germanic word, and Weekley that it translates the Germanic word behind [[marshal]].^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921) Compare [[pro|conestable]], [[es|condestable]] and [[it|conestabile]].^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The chief officer of a ruler's household, court or army: a1240, in ''Sawles Warde'',^(OED 2026)^(MW Word Histories) where wit, or reason, is called God's constable.^(MW Word Histories) Barnhart and Etymonline date the "chief household officer" sense to about 1200.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The rise from head groom to high officer had already happened in Frankish Gaul before the word reached English: the ''comes stabuli'' became the principal officer of the Frankish kings' household and the commander of their army, much as the [[marshal]] rose from the stable.^(OED 2026)^(MW Word Histories)^(Ayto 2005) Merriam-Webster's ''Word Histories'' points out that the king's horses were hardly less valuable to him than his men, so the rise in prestige was smaller than it seems.^(MW Word Histories) English took over the French uses: the governor of a royal castle (1297), a military officer (c. 1300), and the great officers of the French, English and Scottish royal households.^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) From about 1300 the word also named lesser officers of the king's peace, in counties and towns;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) the parish constable is recorded from 1472, the high constable of a hundred from 1543, and the general sense "officer of the peace" from 1597 or 1600.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 2026) Johnson (1755) described the Lord High Constable as an ancient officer of the crown long out of use in England.^(Johnson 1755) When police forces were set up in the 1830s the word passed to their officers:^(Ayto 2005) Barnhart and Etymonline date the "police officer" sense to before 1836, the OED to 1839, and the Oxford Dictionary of English to the mid-19th century.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(ODE 2010) French borrowed ''constable'' back in the 19th century for an English policeman.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 1200 – chief officer of a household, in Barnhart and Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * a1240 – chief officer of a ruler's household, court or army.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1297 – governor of a royal castle.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1300 – a military officer; an officer of the king's peace.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1472 – a parish constable.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1543 – the constable of a hundred.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1597 – an officer of the peace in general.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1836 – a police officer.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1839 – a police constable, in the OED.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # (chiefly British) A [[police]] officer of the lowest rank, also in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and elsewhere.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # Any of various [[peace]] officers, especially one who serves writs and makes arrests, as in some US towns.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The keeper or governor of a royal [[castle]] or [[fortress]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (historical) The chief officer of a medieval royal household, often commander of the army.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # (historical) An officer of a [[hundred]] or parish in medieval and later England, responsible for keeping the peace.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[constableship]]

+ * [[underconstable]]

+ * [[constabulary]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[count]]

+ * [[stable]]

+ * [[marshal]]

+ * [[steward]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The phrase ''outrun the constable'', to spend more than one has, is recorded in the ''Dictionary of the Canting Crew''.^(Weekley 1921) In Scotland and Westmorland a ''constable'' was also a large drinking glass, drained as a forfeit or, at Levens Hall near Kendal, by each visitor at the radish feast.^(Wright 1898) The Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary notes that /ˈkɒn(t)-/ is increasingly heard in British English beside the traditional /ˈkʌn(t)-/.^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}