anguille

Forms

anguille f (plural anguilles)^[1] Old French anguile, angille, anwille and other variants.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French anguille, inherited from Latin anguīlla (“eel”), a diminutive from anguis (“snake”).^{[5][6][3][2][7]} Rey derives the Latin word from anguīna (with the word for “beast” understood), itself from the word for “snake”, an inherited Indo-European word; the same pairing of “snake” and “eel” is found in other branches, as in Old Prussian angis (“grass snake”) beside angurgis (“eel”).^[2] Littré compared Ancient Greek ἔγχελυς (énkhelus, “eel”).^[8]

The ⟨ll⟩ was long pronounced /l/; the palatal pronunciation, due to the spelling, appeared in the 16th century and won only in the 17th.^[5][3][1] Medieval rhymes often show ⟨-ile⟩.^[5]

Cognate with Italian anguilla, Occitan anguila, Spanish anguila and Portuguese enguia, and Picard anwile; the word has outcomes in all the Romance languages except Romanian.^[9][8][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Dictionaries date the word to 1165, as the name of the eel.^[2][6][10] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has it from 1140–1160.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The eel was much prized in the Middle Ages, when eel pies were sought after, and gave many proverbs and phrases.^[2] Latin latet anguis in herba “a snake lurks in the grass” became il y a anguille sous roche (1563), “something is being hidden”.^[2] The 16th century had many picturesque phrases now out of use: les anguilles de Melun, who cry out before they are skinned (from Rabelais, 1534), rompre l'anguille au genou “to go about a thing so as to fail”, and écorcher l'anguille par la queue “to start at the wrong end”.^[2][8]

With a qualifier the word named other creatures: anguille de mer “conger eel” (1791), anguille électrique, an old name of the electric eel (1791), and in Canada anguille de roche (1875).^[2] It has also been used of worms (1747).^[2]

Timeline

• 1140–1160 – The earliest record in the Anglo-Norman Dictionary.^[4]
• 1165 – The date the French dictionaries give.^[2][6][10]
• 1534 – Rabelais uses the phrase about the eels of Melun.^[2]
• 1563 – Il y a anguille sous roche is recorded.^[2]
• 17th century – The palatal pronunciation of ⟨ll⟩ wins.^[5][3]
• 1747 – Used of worms.^[2]
• 1791 – Anguille de mer and anguille électrique appear.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An eel, a long, snake-shaped fish with slimy skin that grows in fresh water and breeds in the sea.^[10][11][12]
2. Anguille de mer: the conger eel;^[11][10] anguille électrique: the electric eel.^[11][10]
3. Il y a anguille sous roche: something is being kept hidden.^[10][11][3]
4. Glisser comme une anguille, se faufiler comme une anguille: to slip away, to wriggle through nimbly.^[10]

Related words

• Latin anguis

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 567a
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
12. ^ 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