Etymologically
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avaler

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a.va.le/[1]

Forms

avaler[1]

Etymology

It is from French aval + -er.[1][2][3][4] The adverb aval “downwards, downstream” is formed from à and val “valley”, like its opposite amont.[4][5][6] That noun continues Latin vallis (“valley”).[6][7] The verb properly meant “to make go down, put down”; since bringing food into the stomach is also making it go down, it gradually took that sense, and the first fell out of use except in some technical phrases and dialects.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (1080) it means “to go down”: du pin est avalet “he came down from the pine”.[4][8]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to descend” (a river, a staircase) is now archaic or technical, like its extensions “to bring down, fell” (12th to 18th centuries), longer kept in the participle (des joues avalées “sagging cheeks”), and “to sink (a pit, a mine)” (1783).[4] The only sense left in common use is “to swallow” (late 12th century: nes un tout seul morcel n'en a elle avalé in Berte), which frequency has cut off from its origin.[4][8]

Figuratively, avaler quelque chose meant “to accept, put up with” from the 15th century, whence dur à avaler and avaler la pilule, faire avaler quelque chose à quelqu'un is “to make someone put up with it” in Molière (1666) and “to make someone believe it” in 1835.[4] The old sense survives in ravaler and avalanche, which avalaison “mountain torrent” probably influenced.[6][4]

Timeline

  • 1080 – “To go down”, in the Chanson de Roland.[4][8]
  • late 12th century – “To swallow”.[4]
  • 15th century – “To accept, put up with”.[4]
  • 1493 – The noun avaleur.[6]
  • 1666 – Faire avaler “to make (someone) put up with”, in Molière.[4]
  • 1783 – “To sink (a pit)”.[4]
  • 1835 – Faire avaler “to make believe”.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To swallow: avaler une gorgée d'eau, avaler d'un trait, in one gulp.[3][1]
  2. (figurative) To accept, put up with: avaler la pilule, avaler des couleuvres, to swallow insults without protest.[4][5]
  3. (figurative) To believe (something unlikely): faire avaler quelque chose à quelqu'un.[4][1]
  4. Avaler sa langue: to keep silent.[5]
  5. (archaic) To lower, let down: avaler une échelle de corde.[5]

Word family

  • avaleur
  • ravaler

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette