bâiller

Forms

bâiller^[1] Old French baaillier, of three syllables; the spelling bâiller dates from the 17th century, the circumflex recording the lost vowel.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle French baailler, inherited from Old French baaillier, inherited from Vulgar Latin bataculō (“to yawn”), attested with this sense in a 10th-century gloss.^[1][2][4][5] The Latin verb is derived from bataculum (“yawning”), itself from batō (“to hold the mouth open”), which gave bayer and béer and goes back to an onomatopoeia ⟨bat-⟩ imitating the sound of a yawn.^[2][4][6]

Cognate with Old Occitan badalhar, Catalan badallar and Italian sbadigliare.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first records, from about 1119, use it of opening the mouth from hunger;^[2] Littré's oldest quotation, from the 12th-century Livres des Rois, is of a child who opened his eyes and yawned seven times: seit feiz baeilad.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The verb meant opening the mouth from hunger, sleep, tiredness or boredom, and figuratively "to be bored" from 1666.^[2][7] From Old French on it was often used figuratively for "to long for something" (1231), which probably caused its confusion with bayer and the near disappearance of that verb.^[2] By analogy it came to mean "to be ajar, badly closed or ill-fitting", especially of a door.^[2][8]

The derivatives include bâillement (about 1120), bâillon (1462), properly something that keeps the mouth from closing, and bâillonner (1530).^[2][4]

Timeline

• c. 1119 – Baaillier is first recorded, of opening the mouth from hunger.^[2]
• c. 1120 – The noun bâillement is recorded.^[2]
• 1231 – It is used for "to long for".^[2]
• 1462 – Bâillon is recorded.^[2][4]
• 1530 – Bâillonner is recorded.^[2][4]
• 1666 – It is used for "to be bored".^[2]
• 17th century – The spelling bâiller appears.^[2]
• 1678 – It is used of a thing that is ajar or badly closed.^[2]
• 1694 – The Académie records bâilleur.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To yawn: to open the mouth wide and breathe in involuntarily, from tiredness, hunger or boredom.^[8][7][1]
2. To be bored: tout le monde bâillait pendant le discours.^[7][3]
3. Of a thing, to be ajar, badly closed or badly fitting: une porte qui bâille.^[8][9]
4. By confusion with bayer, to long for something: elle bâillait après les vacances.^[8][2]

Word family

• bâilleur
• bâillon
• bâillonner
• bâillement
• entrebâiller

Related words

• bayer
• béer

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 281b
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d 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
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse