bégueule

Forms

bégueule m or f by sense (plural bégueules)^[1] Middle French bée gueule (1470), also written béegueule.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French bée + gueule, literally “gaping mouth”, the first part being the feminine past participle of béer “to gape”.^{[5][4][6][2][7]} Phrases such as Old French geule bee were common from the 12th century;^[8] compare gole baee “open mouth”.^[1]

gueule continues Latin gula (“gullet, throat”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1470 as bée gueule, a term of abuse for someone who stands with his mouth open.^[3][2][5] Littré quotes, after Du Cange, a 15th-century text in which a man insulted without cause answers his companion que vaulx tu, bée gueulle? (“what are you worth, gape-mouth?”).^[4]

Semantic evolution

Standing with the mouth open suggests astonishment but also foolishness, and the insult first meant a fool: Furetière (1690) records bégueule as abuse for a silly woman.^[4][2][9][3] The GLLF reads it as “the woman who acts astonished”.^[9] The modern sense, a woman who is excessively or affectedly prudish, is recorded only from 1746.^[2][3][10]

The derivatives bégueulisme (1750) and bégueulerie (1754) are now dated.^[3][10] The adjective is used of both sexes, and the noun is usually feminine;^[11][9][4] Littré notes that it was applied to a man in jest.^[11][9][4]

Timeline

• 1470 – Bée gueule used as an insult.^[2][5][3]
• 1690 – Furetière records bégueule as a term of abuse.^[9][2]
• 1746 – First record of the sense “prude”.^[2][3]
• 1750 – Bégueulisme appears.^[3]
• 1754 – Bégueulerie appears.^[3][10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (familiar) Excessively or affectedly prudish.^[11][12][9]

Noun

1. (familiar) A prude, usually a woman who shows exaggerated prudishness.^[11][10][6]
2. Faire la bégueule: to put on airs of virtue, to be fussy.^[11][4]
3. A fastidious person who will accept only the best.^[8]

Word family

• bégueulerie
• bégueulisme

Related words

• béer
• gueule
• prude
• Latin gula

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
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 Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 283b
8. ^ a b Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
9. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c d e 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
12. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)