bastonner

Forms

bastonner^[1] Old French bastuner (1174) and bastoner (early 13th century).^[2][3]

Etymology

It continues bastoner, formed from Old French baston (“stick”) + -er, the old form of bâton.^[2][4][5] Rey thinks the old form survived in modern French with the support of bastonnade.^[4] The Petit Robert instead dates the modern word to 1926 and calls it a word of Lyon, from a regional form of the noun.^[6]

The Old French noun is from Late Latin bastum (“stick”), perhaps a noun from the verb *bastō (“to carry”).^[7][1] The noun has cognates in Italian bastone and Spanish bastón.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, bastuner (1174), meant “to pester, harass”, a figurative sense that was lost by the 13th century.^[4][2] In Anglo-Norman the verb meant to reproach or pester someone, and also to fight with sticks.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense “to beat with a stick” is found from the early 13th century,^[4][2] and Old French also used it for “to goad, spur on”.^[8] In Middle French it still meant to strike someone with a stick.^[5] The standard form bâtonner never became common in this sense, while the older bastonner lived on.^[4]

In 20th-century slang it means to beat someone up (1929),^[9][10] and the reflexive se bastonner “to fight” is recorded among secondary-school pupils at Aix in 1929.^[10] Rey also notes an intransitive use “to brawl”, impersonal in ça bastonnait, and the figurative ça bastonne “it makes a great impression”.^[4] The slang noun baston “brawl”, widespread after 1970, comes from the verb or is a shortening of bastonnade.^[4]

Timeline

• 1174 – Bastuner “to pester” is recorded.^[2][4]
• Early 13th century – Bastoner “to beat with a stick” appears.^[2][4]
• 1467–1506 – Molinet uses bastonner of beating people.^[5]
• 1926 – The Petit Robert's date for the modern word, from Lyon.^[6]
• 1929 – The slang sense “to beat up” is recorded.^[9][10]
• 1929 – Se bastonner “to fight” is noted at Aix.^[10]
• After 1970 – The derived slang noun baston spreads.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (dated) To beat with a stick, to cane.^[11][1]
2. (familiar, slang) To hit, beat someone up.^[6][11][10]
3. Se bastonner: to fight, to brawl.^[6][11][10]
4. (slang, intransitive) To brawl as a group, also used impersonally.^[4]

Word family

• baston

Related words

• bastonnade
• bâton
• bâtonner

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 1:867
9. ^ a b Bob, dictionnaire d'argot, de français familier et populaire, languefrancaise.net/Bob
10. ^ a b c d e f 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
11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)