attifer

Forms

attifer^[1] Old French atifer.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French atifer, formed from Old French a- + tifer (“to adorn”).^[2][3][4][5] The simple verb is recorded from about 1170 and was used until the 16th century; it lives on in the dialects of the north-east and in Norman.^[5][2]

According to Wartburg, the simple verb is Germanic: the root *tipp- is seen in Norwegian tip (“end of a piece of clothing”), Dutch tippen and German tippen (“to touch lightly”).^[5][2] In Old Alemannic and southern Frankish /p/ became /pf/ early, giving a form *tipf- (later German Zipfel (“tip, corner”)) and a verb from Old High German *tipfōn (“to adorn”), which became the Old French verb.^[5][4][6] Rey calls this explanation Wartburg's hypothesis and says that it is disputed.^[2]

The English verb tiff “to dress, deck out” comes from the French verb.^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as atifer about 1220, in Gautier de Coinci, meaning “to adorn, deck out”.^[4][2] Bloch and Wartburg date it about 1250.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Attifer outlived tifer in the sense “to adorn”.^[2] In the 17th century it was already felt as old, and the sense of archaism led to the meaning “to dress up in a ridiculous way”, which the GLLF dates to the middle of the 19th century.^[2][4][7] The word was taken up again in the 19th century.^[8]

Its derivatives attifet (1480, tatiffet about 1240) and attifeur (1587, Ronsard) are now obsolete, while attifement (about 1250) and attifage (1547) were revived in the 19th century, often as regional words.^[2] The popular tiffes “hair” comes from the dialect use of tifer.^[5][6]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – The simple verb is recorded.^[5][2]
• c. 1220 – Gautier de Coinci uses atifer.^[4][2]
• 15th century – The life of Boucicaut speaks of ladies bien parées et bien attiffées.^[9]
• 16th century – Ronsard writes of a woman who does nothing but atifer sa perruque.^[9]
• 1613 – The modern spelling attifer is recorded.^[3]
• mid-19th century – The pejorative sense “to dress ridiculously” appears.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (familiar, pejorative) To dress or adorn someone with excessive fuss or in a ridiculous way, to accoutrer, as in Il faut voir comment il attife son petit frère !^[8][10][4]
2. (dated) To adorn, dress, or arrange the hair of.^[10][9][7]
3. (reflexive, s'attifer) To dress up, often in poor taste, as in Elle s'était attifée d'un vieux manteau à fourrure.^[8][10]

Word family

• attifement

Related words

• tiffes

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ a b Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c 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