écorcher

Forms

écorcher^[1] Old French escorchier;^[2][1] escorcher in the 13th century and écorcher from the 17th.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French escorchier, inherited from Late Latin excorticō (“to strip of bark”),^[3][4][5][6] formed with ex- on cortex (“bark, rind”).^[4][7][2] In Late Latin the verb had already come to mean “to strip of the skin”.^[5] Littré rejects a derivation from excoriō, since the ⟨ch⟩ of several Romance forms requires the other verb.^[8]

Cognate with Italian scorticare, Catalan escorxar, Spanish escorchar and Old Occitan escorgar.^[5][8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace's Roman de Brut (1155) uses it for flaying a person, and his Roman de Rou (1160–1174) for skinning an animal: le cerf aveient escorchié “they had skinned the stag”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Weakened, the verb came to mean grazing the skin (1205–1250 in the reflexive, then about 1230), a sense still common as s'écorcher.^[4][3] Figuratively it meant to hurt someone morally (1193–1197), as in Hélinant de Froidmont's escorchier les povres gens, and to give an unpleasant sensation (1280); écorcher les oreilles “to grate on the ears” is in Boileau (1665).^[3][4]

In the 16th century it took on the sense of mangling a word or language, in Rabelais's tu escorches le latin (1532), and of damaging a surface (1598).^[3][4] Molière's écorcher les malades (1673) gave the sense of overcharging someone.^[3][4] The phrases crier comme si on l'écorchait “to scream loudly” and crier avant qu'on l'écorche “to complain over nothing” have aged but are still understood.^[4][9] The past participle écorché became a noun for an anatomical figure without its skin (1796).^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1155 – Wace uses it for flaying a person.^[3][4]
• 1160–1174 – Wace uses it for skinning an animal.^[3]
• 1193–1197 – Hélinant de Froidmont uses it figuratively.^[3]
• 1205–1250 – The Roman de Renart has it for grazing the hands.^[3]
• 1280 – The Clef d'Amors uses it for an unpleasant sensation.^[3]
• 1532 – Rabelais uses it for mangling Latin.^[3][4]
• 1665 – Boileau writes écorcher les oreilles.^[3]
• 1673 – Molière uses it for overcharging.^[3][4]
• 1796 – Diderot uses l'écorché for the anatomical figure.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To skin or flay, to strip (a body) of its skin;^[9][2][1] écorcher vif, to flay alive.^[9][2][1]
2. To graze, to scrape the skin slightly; reflexive s'écorcher.^[9][1]
3. To scrape or damage the surface of a thing.^[3][2]
4. To grate on the senses: écorcher les oreilles.^[3][4]
5. To mispronounce or mangle a word or a language.^[3][1]
6. (familiar) To overcharge (a customer).^[4][3]

Word family

• écorchure
• écorchement
• écorcheur
• écorché

Related words

• décortiquer
• écorce
• Latin cortex

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t 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
4. ^ 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
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, 281b
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert