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To plow, a verb that has totally changed meaning

8/19/2021, 9:32:01 AM


What definition of "plow" is given in our first dictionaries? A meaning very far from that of today ...

What did "plow" mean?

To discover

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Plow.

“… The terrestrial paradiz, of the situation of which so many [good theologians] dispute and plow,” writes Rabelais in his Quart Livre published in 1548. Des theologiens qui plourent?

Would they have an agricultural vocation?

If you know these old names for fruits and vegetables, you are an expert in the French language

In fact, since the 11th century, the verb to plow is, quite simply, a synonym for "to work".

It is still noted with this meaning until the nineteenth century, although it may be used out of date.

Thus, Sainte-Beuve wrote: “Since my return from Switzerland, I have not stopped plowing in the morning and dissipating myself in the evening.

"

What is the origin of the word plow?

Originally, the verb is borrowed from classical Latin laborare which means "to work, to take pains, to give oneself trouble".

From the tenth century, when we "plow", we "work", we make efforts and we reflect.

In other words, being in the throes of labor is sometimes racking your brains.

And the image is all found, between the fact of digging by the mind, let's hear digging a reflection, and the ground

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