Etymograph

English

guillemet

Guillemet comes from French Guillaume ‘William’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *Wiljahelmaz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*Wiljahelmazreconstructed
  2. Frankishc. 250–700*Willahelm‘William’literally ‘will-helmet’reconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400Guillaume
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘William’
  5. French, derivedc. 1600–presentguillemet
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2021same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*Wiljahelmazreconstructed
  2. Frankishc. 250–700*Willahelm‘William’literally ‘will-helmet’reconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400Guillaume
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘William’
  5. French, derivedc. 1600–presentguillemet
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2021same form

Earliest quotation: 2021, Claire Cock-Starkey, Hyphens & Hashtags: “Guillemets, however, proved popular and remain the key method…”

The story

From French guillemet, diminutive form of the name Guillaume (‘William’), named after French typecutter Guillaume Le Bé (1525–1598) who supposedly invented the marks.

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *Wiljahelmaz

Today it means

noun Either of the punctuation marks « or » (or ‹ or ›), used in several languages to indicate passages of speech. Similar to typical quotation marks used in the English language, such as “ and ”.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *Wiljahelmaz / guillemet

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