boucanier

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bu.ka.nje/^[1]

Forms

boucanier m (plural boucaniers)^[1]

Etymology

It is from French boucan + -ier,^[2][3][1] from boucan, the wooden grill on which the Indians of Brazil and the Caribbean smoked meat and fish.^[4][5] Boucan was borrowed in 1578, in Jean de Léry's account of his voyage to Brazil, from Tupi mboka'ẽ (“wooden grill”);^[4][1] Rey and Bloch and Wartburg explain the initial ⟨b⟩ by the frequent alternation of /p/, /m/ and /b/ at the start of Tupi and Guarani words.^[4][5] The verb boucaner “to smoke meat on a boucan” is recorded from 1575.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1654 for the adventurers and backwoodsmen of Saint-Domingue who hunted wild cattle to smoke their meat on a boucan and trade their hides;^[2][4][6] Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1667–71.^[5]

Semantic evolution

By extension, and perhaps under the influence of an unrelated verb boucaner “to act like a billy goat”, the word was applied to the pirates who raided the coasts of America and the West Indies in the 17th century, and to their ships;^[4] the GLLF puts this down to confusion with the flibustiers, who ruled the same seas at the time.^[7] Larousse notes that the buccaneers allied with the freebooters in the second half of the 17th century and at first served France and England against Spain.^[8] The word also named the long, heavy gun these hunters used: un fusil boucannier appears in a Quebec inventory of 1682.^[9][8] In literary use it can mean any reckless adventurer, as in Hugo.^[7]

English took the word as English buccaneer: first in the 1660s for one who roasts meat on a boucan, then in the 1680s for a pirate.^[10]

Timeline

• 1575 – The verb boucaner “to smoke meat” is recorded.^[4]
• 1578 – Jean de Léry describes the boucan, the smoking grill.^[4][5]
• 1654 – First record of boucanier.^[2][4]
• 1660s – English buccaneer “one who roasts meat on a boucan”.^[10]
• 1680s – English buccaneer “pirate”.^[10]
• 1682 – A fusil boucannier is listed in a Quebec inventory.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) An adventurer of the West Indies who hunted wild cattle to smoke the meat and trade the hides.^[6][8]
2. (by extension) A pirate of the American seas in the 17th century; a buccaneer.^[3][7]
3. (figurative, literary) A reckless adventurer.^[7]
4. (historical) The long, heavy musket used by these hunters.^[8][9]

Related words

• boucan
• boucaner
• flibustier
• Tupi mboka'ẽ
• English buccaneer

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
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 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
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com