aiguiser

Forms

aiguiser^[1] Old French aguisier, aguiser, used until the 16th century;^[2][3][4] aiguiser is found from the 13th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French aguisier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *acūtiō (“to sharpen”), formed on acūtus (“sharp”), the past participle of acuō (“to sharpen”).^[5][3][1][6] Bloch and Wartburg and Rey see it as an alteration of Late Latin acūtō, and Bloch and Wartburg cite acūtiātor (“sharpener”) from glosses;^[3][2] Littré noted that Du Cange has the verb in -ūtō and the agent noun but not the verb in -ūtiō.^[7]

The TLFi, following Fouché, explains the vowel by a development *acutiare > *aguydzare > *ayguydzare, the palatal of the second syllable being anticipated in the first; in this view the spelling with ⟨ai⟩ is the regular outcome and the Old French form owes its ⟨a⟩ to agu (“sharp”) (aigu).^[5][1] Rey instead considers the form with ⟨ai⟩ normal only from the 16th century, as with aiguille and aiguillon.^[2]

Cognate with Italian aguzzare, Old Occitan agusar, Catalan agusar, Spanish aguzar and Portuguese aguçar.^[8][1][3] Dialect forms include Norman agucher and Walloon awehî.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), meaning to make pointed or sharp, of weapons.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

A figurative use appears early in the 12th century in the Oxford Psalter, il aguiserent cume espede lur langues “they sharpened their tongues like a sword”.^[5] From 1167 (Gautier d'Arras) it meant making a feeling keener, before 1215 the reason, in the 15th century the appetite (Nostre appetit le vin aguise), and in Boileau an epigram.^[5][2] Aiguiser l'appétit (15th century) has stayed current, like aiguiser l'esprit (1610), while aiguiser la raison has gone.^[2]

The metaphors aiguiser ses couteaux “to prepare for a fight” and aiguiser ses dents “to get ready to eat well” (both 1690) are now obsolete.^[2][7] In Quebec the verb also means to sharpen to a point, as a pencil, hence aiguise-crayon for a pencil sharpener.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Aguisier “to sharpen” appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[5]
• early 12th century – The Oxford Psalter uses it figuratively of tongues.^[5]
• 1167 – Gautier d'Arras uses it for making a feeling keener.^[5]
• 13th century – The spelling aiguiser is found.^[3][4]
• 15th century – Basselin uses it of the appetite.^[5][2]
• 1690 – Aiguiser ses couteaux and aiguiser ses dents are recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To sharpen, to make cutting or pointed: aiguiser une hache;^{[9][10][11][1]} pierre à aiguiser, a whetstone.^{[9][10][11][1]}
2. To make keener or more intense: aiguiser l'appétit, to whet the appetite.^[9][11][1]
3. (literary) To refine or polish a style, a phrase or a witticism.^[9][11]
4. (Quebec) To sharpen a pencil.^[2]

Word family

• aiguisoir
• aiguisage
• aiguiseur
• aiguisement

Related words

• aigu
• aiguille
• aiguillon
• Latin acūtus

Usage notes

Littré recommended the pronunciation with /ɡɥi/, as in the 16th and 17th centuries, against /ɡi/, but Féraud had already recorded /ɡi/ in 1768 and 1787; modern dictionaries give /eɡize/ first, with /eɡɥize/ as older.^[7][5][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 125b
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
12. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert