The French language is evolving.
New words appear in our vocabulary when others fall into oblivion.
Still others have seen their meaning gradually change over the centuries.
Do you know, for example, that the verb
"to astonish"
was synonymous with
"to knock out"
?
The first dictionaries dating from the 17th century are valuable resources for finding the meaning of words as they were once known.
If one day you want to read
Gargantua
by François Rabelais, know that
"fafelu"
(without the
"r"
) designates something (usually a food) that is "plump" or "robust".
The editorial staff invites you to discover five of them, to shine at your next social events.
To discover
Crosswords, arrow words, 7 Letters... Free to play anywhere, anytime with the Le Figaro Games app
Read also“Hurry up!”, “Be confident!”… This tip for using the imperative correctly
Tremendous
This word is at the center of the famous Stromae song.
"You were great, I was very pathetic, we were great..."
.
If these words had been sung in the 13th century, they would not have the same meaning... Indeed, the Trésor de la langue française defines the aged or literary term of the word as such:
"Who is to be feared or who inspires a great fear, which is dangerous in nature or terrifying in appearance”
.
Example:
“The judgments of God are awesome”
.
In other words, they inspire fear... The adjective as we know it, synonymous with extraordinary, is very recent, dating from the beginning of the 20th century.
Aperitif
The word as it was known in the 17th century was hardly appetizing.
An
"aperitif"
was a remedy used to facilitate the secretions of the digestive tract.
Derived from the Latin
“aperire”
(to open), the word was specific to medical vocabulary.
There was also talk of
“appetizer plants”
.
In 1750, in the
Dictionary of Foods
,
"appetizers"
are those which open the appetite and aid digestion.
It was not until 1888 that Maupassant mentioned the aperitif as the generally alcoholic drink, considered to be stimulating.
The word then takes the form of
"aperitif"
from 1901.
irritate
“My arms are pissed off”
.
In the past, when we were
"edgy"
, we were without nerve, tired.
In
Words that have totally changed meaning
(Figaro littéraire, 2020), the linguist Jean Pruvost reports the definition of the verb as it was described in 1680 by Richelet in his French Dictionary:
“To weaken a lot”
.
The word dates back to the 13th century, as can be read on the Trésor de la langue française and literally meant
“to deprive of energy”
.
It was borrowed from the classical Latin
“enervare”
which meant
“to withdraw the nerves”
hence
“to weaken, to exhaust”
.
It was not until the 19th century that it took on the usual meaning that we know:
"to excite, to irritate someone's nerves, to make nervous"
.
Imbecile
As surprising as it may seem, this word, at the start, was far from taking on the aspects of an insult.
"Imbecile"
is one who is
"weak by nature"
(age, imbecile soul).
It comes from the classical Latin
"imbecilius"
, constructed with the privative prefix
"im"
(without) and the radical
"baculum"
(stick), meaning
"he who is without a stick"
, i.e.
"without support"
. .
We speak of a
"fool"
person whose intellectual faculties are weakened by age or illness.
Children under seven were considered in
'a foolish age'
.
Who today would dare to call both children and the elderly imbeciles?
Read also "Baditis", "agedo" ... These Gallic words that have disappeared from our vocabulary
Embarrassed
“Ah, you bother me!”
.
Translation:
“Ah!
You are torturing me!”
.
This phrase was more trying in the past than embarrassing today.
In the 13th century,
"embarrassment"
represents
"torture to obtain a confession"
.
We also wrote
“gehine”
then
“gehenne”
by comparison with the name
“Géhenne”
, which designates the punishments of hell, reports the current Dictionary of the French Academy.
It was not until 1810 that the word was associated with embarrassment or confusion.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/KMEYMJKESBAZBE4MRBAM4TGHIQ.jpg)
