étouper

Forms

étouper^[1] Old French estuper, estouper and estoper; the modern spelling étouper is recorded in 1636.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French estuper, inherited from Vulgar Latin *stuppō (“to stop up with tow”), derived from Latin stuppa (“tow”), the source of étoupe.^[3][4][1][5] Rey also allows that it may have been formed in French from the noun, as the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert take it.^[5][6][7] Littré cites the Late Latin verb from the laws of the Alemanni.^[8]

Cognate with Italian stoppare, Old Occitan estopar and Romanian astupa.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Philippe de Thaon uses it between 1121 and 1134 in his Bestiaire in the sense “to block, to stop up”.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

In Old French it meant to stop up anything: doors and windows, a nose, roads, even a slanderer's mouth in the Roman de la Rose.^[8] The modern sense is narrower: to fill or pack with tow or a similar material to make something watertight or soundproof, such as the cracks of a cask or a ship's leak.^[3][2]

Gilders used it from 1811 for patching a gold leaf where it was too thin, and hatters for strengthening weak spots of a felt.^[2][8] The derivative étoupage is found in Picard in 1567 for a small dam, and in 1723 in hat-making.^[3][5]

Timeline

• 1121–1134 – Philippe de Thaon uses estuper “to block”.^[3]
• c. 1175 – Chrétien de Troyes writes estoper.^[2]
• 1567 – The derivative estouppaige “bung, small dam” appears in Picard.^[3]
• 1636 – Monet spells it étouper.^[2]
• 1811 – Mozin records the gilders' sense.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To stop up or pack with tow or a similar material, to make watertight or soundproof; to caulk.^[3][7][1]
2. (familiar, dated) Avoir les oreilles étoupées: to have one's ears plugged.^[2]
3. (gilding) To patch a gold leaf where it is too thin.^[2][8]

Related words

• étoupe
• étoupille
• Latin stuppa

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette