écrouler

Forms

écrouler^[1] Pronominal s'écrouler;^[2][3] Old French escroller and escrouler, with écrouler from the 17th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French é- + crouler, the prefix (older es-, from Latin ex-) being intensive.^[3][2][4][1]

The origin of the base verb, which first meant “to shake”, is uncertain.^[5][1] Bloch and Wartburg mention a popular form Vulgar Latin *crotalare “to shake”, from crotalum (“castanet”), and also *corrotulare “to make roll”, from rota (“wheel”);^[5] the FEW files the word under this second etymon.^[6] The Wiktionary suggests *corrutulāre, a frequentative of corruō (“to collapse”), and compares Italian crollare.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the early 12th century the Cambridge Psalter uses it transitively for “to shake”: seit escrollée la terre “let the earth be shaken”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The transitive sense “to shake, make tremble” lasted until the 18th century (Trévoux, 1740);^[3] Rabelais has escroula of a shaken tree.^[7] The pronominal s'écrouler, “to collapse” of a building or a work, is recorded by Furetière in 1690.^[3][8][4]

The figurative sense “to be destroyed, to vanish”, with an abstract subject, dates from the Revolution (1790).^[3][8] Of a person it meant “to break down” morally from 1842 (Balzac) and “to collapse, drop heavily” physically from 1880 (Maupassant).^[3][8] The construction s'écrouler de doubles crouler de “to be overwhelmed with”.^[8] The noun écroulement dates from 1587, after ecrollement “shaking” in 1561.^[8]

Timeline

• Early 12th century – Escroller “to shake” in the Cambridge Psalter.^[3]
• 16th century – Rabelais uses escrouler of shaking a tree.^[7]
• 1587 – Écroulement is recorded.^[8]
• 1690 – Furetière records s'escrouler of a bastion.^[3][4]
• 1740 – Last record of the transitive use, in Trévoux.^[3]
• 1790 – Saint-Martin uses it figuratively for “to be destroyed”.^[3][8]
• 1842 – Balzac uses it of a person's moral breakdown.^[3]
• 1880 – Maupassant uses it of a person collapsing physically.^[3][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (pronominal, of a building or structure) To collapse, to fall down suddenly with all its mass: le vieux mur s'est écroulé.^[9][3][1]
2. (pronominal, figurative) To be destroyed, to come to a sudden end: leur entreprise s'est écroulée en un an.^[9][3]
3. (pronominal, of a person) To slump or drop heavily, from tiredness or weakness.^[3][8]
4. (pronominal, of a person) To break down under a moral blow.^[3]

Word family

• écroulement

Related words

• crouler

Usage notes

The verb is used only pronominally; the old transitive sense “to shake” went out of use in the 18th century.^[3][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b 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. 2, 1230a
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert