échapper

Pronunciation

• IPA: /e.ʃa.pe/^[1]

Forms

échapper^[1] Old French escaper, eschaper; spelt échapper from the 16th–17th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French eschaper, inherited from Vulgar Latin *excappāre, formed with ex- on Late Latin cappa (“a kind of headdress; cloak”),^[4][2][5][6] properly “to throw off the cowl”, or else “to slip out of one's cloak, leaving it in the pursuer's hands”;^[4][5] Väänänen and Rey prefer the second explanation.^[4][2] Littré noted the parallel Old French escamper, which he derived from Vulgar Latin *excampāre (“to leave the field”).^[7]

Cognate with Italian scappare and Spanish escapar.^[5][7] It is a doublet of escaper.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has Se uns escapet, morz ies e cunfunduz “if a single one escapes, you are dead and undone”, the sense “to flee, get away”.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

About 1140 it was said of a thing that slips from one's grasp (se pome m'en eschapet),^[4] and the reflexive s'en eschaper is found about 1160.^[4] From the late 12th century it meant to stay out of reach of a danger, and figuratively to cease to be under someone's influence.^[2] In Amyot (1559) words “escape” one's lips, and, from the same period a name m'échappe when memory fails;^[4][2] Montaigne (1580) has things that escape notice.^[4][2]

L'échapper belle, found in 1574 and recorded by Oudin in 1640, first meant to miss a ball that could have been caught, and now means “to have a narrow escape”.^[8][4][2] The transitive use “to drop (something) unintentionally” survives regionally in France and in Quebec (j'ai échappé une assiette).^[2][1]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Escapet “escapes” in the Chanson de Roland.^[4]
• c. 1140 – Of a thing slipping from the hand.^[4]
• c. 1160 – Reflexive s'en eschaper.^[4]
• 1559 – Words escaping one's mouth, in Amyot.^[4]
• 1574 – L'avoir eschappé belle.^[8]
• 1752 – Échappement in clockmaking.^[2]
• 1880 – S'échapper in cycling.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. Échapper à: to escape or avoid (a danger, a pursuer, a punishment): échapper à la mort.^[9][10]
2. Échapper à: to slip from, be beyond (someone's control, attention or memory): son nom m'échappe, ce détail m'a échappé.^[9][2]
3. Of words or a cry, to be uttered involuntarily: laisser échapper un cri.^[9][2]
4. L'échapper belle: to have a narrow escape.^[4][1]
5. (Quebec, transitive) To drop (something) by accident.^[1][2]
6. (reflexive) To escape, break out; to leak out (of gas or steam); (cycling) to break away.^[1][2]

Word family

• échappatoire
• échappée
• échappement
• réchapper
• rescapé

Related words

• chape
• échappé
• escapade

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 268a
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)