équarrir

Forms

équarrir (transitive)^[1] Old French esquarrir (13th century), beside escarrer, later équarrer, in use until the 17th century; the spelling équarrir dates from 1640.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French esquarrir, a variant of escarrer (“to dislocate, to cut square”),^[5][6][7] inherited from Vulgar Latin *exquadrō (“to make square”).^[5][6][3] This is formed from ex- and quadrō (“to make square”),^[7][3] from quadrus (“square”), from quattuor (“four”).^[6][7] Littré analysed it as é- and carré.^[8]

Cognate with Italian squadrare, Spanish escuadrar, Portuguese esquadriar and Occitan escairar.^[3][8] équerre comes from the same Latin verb.^[6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The derivative esquarrie “square” is found at the end of the 12th century; the verb itself first appears in the middle of the 13th, in a manuscript of Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie, meaning to cut square and to hew to pieces.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

From cutting into a square shape it became a term of several crafts for squaring stone and timber (1538, esquarrir, of stonework),^[6][7] and in 1755 the Encyclopédie used it for boring a square hole, or widening a hole, with the équarrissoir.^[5][6]

The sense of cutting up a dead animal, especially a horse, into quarters is dated 1780 by the TLFi and Rey,^[5][6] 1835 by the Petit Robert and Quemada's datings, and 1845 by Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF.^[4][9][3][7] Its derivatives équarrissage (1364) and équarrisseur followed the same shift.^[6][3] The figurative sense “to rough-hew, to refine (a person or thing)”, recorded in 1870, has gone out of use except in the past participle mal équarri “crude, unfinished”.^[6][4]

Timeline

• late 12th century – The derivative esquarrie “square”.^[5][6]
• c. 1250 – The verb in the Roman de Troie (manuscript K).^[5]
• 1288 – The parallel verb escarrer “to dislocate”.^[5][6]
• 1328 – First record of équarrissement.^[6][3]
• 1364 – First record of équarrissage.^[6][3]
• 1538 – Robert Estienne records esquarrir for squaring stone.^[7][6]
• 1640 – The spelling équarrir.^[2][4]
• 1671 – First record of équarrissoir.^[6]
• 1755 – The Encyclopédie uses it for boring with the équarrissoir.^[5]
• 1780 – Used for cutting up a dead animal (spelled écarir).^[5][6]
• 1870 – The figurative sense “to rough-hew”.^[6][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To square, to cut a log or block of stone with right angles.^[4][5][8]
2. (technical) To bore or widen a hole with an équarrissoir.^[5][8]
3. (figurative, dated) To rough-hew, to dégrossir; now mainly mal équarri, crude, roughly shaped.^[4][5]
4. To cut up a dead animal into quarters; to flay and dismember a carcass.^[4][5][8]

Word family

• équarrissage
• équarrisseur
• équarrissoir
• équarrissement

Related words

• carrer
• équerre
• carré
• quatre
• Latin quadrō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF