étoffe

English translation: Damascus steel

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:étoffe (de Damas)
English translation:Damascus steel
Entered by: Tom Bishop

11:41 Mar 4, 2004
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Tech/Engineering - Metallurgy / Casting
French term or phrase: étoffe
réunion de plaques de fer et d\'acier forgés ensemble pour fabriquer des instruments tranchants
Dean Frances
Damascus steel
Explanation:
What you describe appears to match the descriptions on the following websites (English and French respectively), the latter referring sometimes to "étoffe" and sometimes to "étoffe de Damas".
Selected response from:

Tom Bishop
Local time: 20:47
Grading comment
Thanks a lot-it fits the bill perfectly
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1Damascus steel
Tom Bishop
5base-metal alloy
Claire Chapman


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


30 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
étoffe
Damascus steel


Explanation:
What you describe appears to match the descriptions on the following websites (English and French respectively), the latter referring sometimes to "étoffe" and sometimes to "étoffe de Damas".


    Reference: http://www.ebladestore.com/damascus_knives.shtml
    Reference: http://acier.damas.free.fr/f_damas/f_hist/perret.htm
Tom Bishop
Local time: 20:47
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Thanks a lot-it fits the bill perfectly

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Vicky Papaprodromou
23 mins
  -> Thanks Vicky. 21 years in the steel industry but this was something that I had never encountered!
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1 day 4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
base-metal alloy


Explanation:
This is the Larousse technical definition for éttofe.

And here is the source:

étouffer XIIIe s. : « rembourrer » puis « founir du nécessaire », XVIe s. « enrichir » : frq. *stopfôn « rembourrer », du germ. *stoppôn ; ÉTOFFE XIIIe s. « matériaux à travailler ». fin de XVIe s. sens limité aux textiles : dér. de étoffer.
Dictionnaire étymologique du Français, Le Robert

So éttofe is the materials to work, working materials, or just plain stuff.

However it is also a technical term:

étoffe – TECH Réunion de plaques de fer et d’acier, forgées ensemble pour fabriquer des instruments tranchants
Dictionnaire Hachette encyclopédique.

And that brings us back to the technical definition given by Larousee.



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Note added at 2004-03-05 16:25:13 (GMT)
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According to the Dictionnaire Hachette encyclopédique, the technical definition for damas is “ acier présentant une surface moirée.”

And Larousse translates damas as Damask steel.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2004-03-05 17:33:38 (GMT)
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According to the Dictionnaire Hachette encyclopédique, the technical definition for damas is “ acier présentant une surface moirée.”

And Larousse translates damas as Damask steel.

Claire Chapman
Local time: 16:47
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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