balancer

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ba.lɑ̃.se/^[1]

Forms

balancer^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from balance “pair of scales”.^[2][3][1][4] That word comes from Vulgar Latin *bilancia, from Late Latin bilanx (“two-pan balance”) (4th century), formed with bis (“twice”) and lanx (“dish, scale pan”);^[5][4] its initial ⟨ba-⟩ may come from a change of /i/ to /a/ before /l/ and perhaps from the influence of the verb baller “to dance, swing”, because of the movement of the two pans.^[4][5]

Compare Italian bilanciare, Old Occitan balansar and Spanish balanzar.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1165, in the sense “to move from side to side”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the 12th century it also meant “to throw with a swinging movement” (about 1175): a 13th-century fabliau says of a corpse Dedenz l'eve l'a balancié, “he threw it into the water”.^[4][7] That sense died out in the 14th century and was revived by popular speech in 1821, simply for “to throw”.^[4] The figurative sense “to hesitate between two courses” appeared at the end of the 12th century in mon cœur balance;^[4] “to weigh” is from the early 13th century and “to balance, compare” from the 16th.^[4] The pronominal se balancer dates from 1573.^[4]

Slang and then familiar speech extended “to throw” to “to get rid of” (1844) and “to inform on” (1929–1934), whence the noun balance “informer” (about 1930).^[4] S'en balancer “not to give a damn” is soldiers' slang of 1914.^[4] balancement is from 1487, balançoire from 1530 and contrebalancer from 1549 (Du Bellay).^[5][4]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – “To move from side to side”.^[4]
• c. 1175 – “To throw”.^[4]
• Late 12th century – Mon cœur balance “I hesitate”.^[4]
• 1487 – Balancement.^[5]
• 1530 – Balançoire.^[5]
• 1573 – Se balancer.^[4]
• 1821 – “To throw” revived in popular speech.^[4]
• 1844 – Slang “to get rid of”.^[4]
• 1914 – S'en balancer.^[4]
• 1929–1934 – “To inform on”.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To swing, to move to and fro: balancer les bras, balancer un enfant pour l'endormir.^[8][3]
2. (familiar) To throw, chuck: balancer un objet par la fenêtre, balancer une gifle.^[8][1]
3. (familiar) To get rid of, throw away; to sack (someone).^[3][1]
4. (slang) To inform on, grass on.^[1][4]
5. (literary) To weigh, compare; intransitively, to hesitate.^[4]
6. Se balancer: to swing, sway; to ride on a swing, (familiar) s'en balancer, not to care.^[1][4]
7. (Quebec) To balance (an account).^[1]

Word family

• balancement
• balançoire
• contrebalancer

Related words

• balance

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert