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étriver

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Etymology and origin of the French word étriver

étriver1 to adjust the stirrups; to angle a rope

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1773 J.-A. de Guibert, Tactique
Ultimate origin
French étrivière

Pronunciation

Forms

étriver[1]

Etymology

The verb for the stirrups is a derivative from French étrivière, the stirrup leather.[2][3] The TLFi compares Old French desestriver (“to unhorse”) (late 12th century), désétriver (1657), of taking one's feet out of the stirrups, and Middle French estriver, of putting them in, recorded by Nicot in 1606.[2]

The nautical verb is formed from French étrive + -er, a sailors' word for a lashing where two ropes cross;[2][4] The noun was itself formed on the stem of étrier under the influence of the word for the stirrup leather,[2] or continues Old French estrif (“stirrup”).[5][4] Wiktionary instead takes the nautical verb back to the Old French verb for quarrelling.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Guibert's Tactique (1773) uses it of riders setting the length of their stirrups.[2]

Semantic evolution

In horsemanship the verb is used of the length at which a rider rides: one étrive long or court.[2] At sea it appears in the early 19th century: to make a rope or cable bend at an angle over an obstacle, either because it cannot run straight or to brake it, and to bind two crossed ropes together with a third.[2][4][6] Littré also records an intransitive use, of a rope that pulls while making an elbow.[6]

Timeline

  • 1773 – Guibert uses it of the stirrups.[2]
  • 1773 – The sailors' noun étrive is first recorded.[2]
  • 1831 – First record of the nautical verb, in Willaumez.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (horse riding, intransitive) To set the length of one's stirrups.[2]
  2. (nautical, transitive) To make a rope or cable bend at an angle round an obstacle, to guide or brake it.[2][7]
  3. (nautical, transitive) To tie two crossing ropes together with a third.[6][1]

étriver2 to quarrel; to tease

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1155 Wace
Ultimate origin
Frankish *strīd

Pronunciation

Forms

étriver[1]

Etymology

The verb for quarrelling is inherited from Old French estriver (“to quarrel, compete”),[4][8] formed from Old French estrif (“dispute, quarrel”), a variant of estrit.[4][1] The GLLF and the FEW trace these to Frankish *strīd (“dispute, quarrel”);[4][9] Wiktionary instead derives the verb from Frankish *strīban, Proto-Germanic *strībaną,[1] and the French Wiktionary compares a Germanic verb for struggling.[8]

The Old French verb is also the source of English strive.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace writes estriver about 1155, meaning to quarrel or dispute.[4]

Semantic evolution

Old French estriver meant to quarrel, argue, compete and also to strive to do something;[11][12][13] in Middle French it could also mean to fight someone.[14] The verb aged early: Scarron still has Allez donc, sans plus étriver in the 17th century, and Littré calls estriver dated.[4][6]

In Canadian French étriver lives on as “to tease, annoy”;[3][8] the Académie, which records only this sense, derives it from étrivière instead.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1155 – Wace uses estriver.[4]
  • c. 1200 – English borrows the verb as striven.[10]
  • 17th century – The spelling étriver is found.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (archaic, intransitive) To quarrel continually, to squabble.[4][8]
  2. (Canada, transitive) To tease, provoke, annoy.[3][8]
  • étrier
  • étrivière
  • étrive
  • Old French estrif
  • English strive

Usage notes

The GLLF gives two numbered verbs, 1 nautical (from étrive) and 2 “to quarrel” (from Old French estriver); the TLFi's stirrup verb is listed here with the first, as both belong to the family of étrier.[4][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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
  3. ^ a b c d Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  8. ^ a b c d e Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
  9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 255b
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner
  12. ^ Dictionnaire électronique de Chrétien de Troyes (DÉCT), LFA / Université d'Ottawa – ATILF, CNRS / Université de Lorraine (2014)
  13. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  14. ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
Cite this entry

“Étriver.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/%C3%A9triver. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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