étrangler

Forms

étrangler^[1] Old French estrangler; the spelling étrangler is recorded by Monet in 1636.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French estrangler, inherited from Latin strangulō (“to strangle, choke”).^[3][1][4][5] Rey describes the Latin verb as an early borrowing of Greek, from a word for a cord or halter;^[6] Littré gives the Greek verb as Ancient Greek στραγγαλοῦν (strangaloûn).^[7] Wiktionary gives the learned stranguler as its doublet.^[1]

Cognate with Italian strangolare, Occitan estrangolar and Portuguese estrangular.^[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as estrangler in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire (1121–1134), with the Latin sense “to kill by stopping the breath”.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The reflexive s'estrangler “to choke, suffocate” is found in Wace (1160–1174).^[3][6] From the early 13th century the verb was used figuratively for “to press hard”, hence “to ruin” (1319) and “to oppress”.^[6][3]

In the 17th century it took the sense of stifling something so that it does not come out or become known, as étrangler une affaire (1640), the source of 19th-century uses such as stifling the press.^[6] By analogy it came to mean “to narrow, constrict” (étrangler un sac, 1690), with a sailing sense of hauling in a sail.^[6][2] In 1878 Larchey recorded it in slang for “to drink”.^[8]

Timeline

• 1121–1134 – Estrangler in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire.^[3][6]
• 1160–1174 – Wace uses the reflexive for “to choke”.^[3]
• 1240 – The noun étranglement is first recorded.^[5][6]
• 1319 – Watriquet de Couvin uses it for “to ruin”.^[3]
• 1640 – Étrangler une affaire “to hush up a matter”.^[6]
• 1690 – Furetière records étrangler un sac “to narrow”.^[6][2]
• 1836 – The Académie records it of a sail.^[2]
• 1878 – Larchey records it as slang for “to drink”.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To strangle, kill or choke by squeezing the neck: il a étranglé le lapin d'une main.^[9][10][2]
2. To constrict the throat, make breathing hard: la colère l'étranglait.^[9][2]
3. (figurative, familiar) To ruin someone by making them pay too much.^[9][2]
4. (figurative) To stifle, keep from being expressed: étrangler la liberté.^[2][6]
5. To narrow, constrict: une ceinture qui étrangle la taille.^[9][2]
6. (sailing) To haul in a sail against the mast.^[9][2]
7. (reflexive) S'étrangler: to choke, lose one's breath for a moment, as on a fish bone or from emotion, and of the voice, to break off.^[9][2][1]

Word family

• étranglement
• étrangleur

Related words

• stranguler
• strangulation
• Latin strangulō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 286b
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b 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 d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)