bouger

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bu.ʒe/^[1]

Forms

bouger^[1] Old French bougier.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French bougier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *bullicō (“to bubble, seethe”), a frequentative of Latin bulliō (“to boil, bubble”) (the source of bouillir), with the sense transferred from bubbling to moving.^[2][4][3][5] The same Vulgar Latin form is supposed by Italian bulicare (“to bubble”), Old Occitan bolegar (“to move”) and Catalan bellugar.^[2][4][1] Littré credits Diez with this explanation, against Ménage's derivation from German “wogen”.^[6]

English borrowed it from Middle French as English budge.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

As bougier it is found about 1150 meaning “to stir, move”; the GLLF's first record is Chrétien de Troyes (1175).^[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

Its sense has hardly changed since: “to move” and, of a person, “to move about”.^[2] With a negative it meant “not to leave a place”, as in Froissart's l'argent ne devoit bouger de Paris and the Académie's il ne bouge de chez lui.^[6][7] Figuratively it is used of a people beginning to stir in protest.^[6][8]

The reflexive se bouger, unmarked in Molière and Racine, is now familiar (tu te bouges ?), as is bouger son cul “to get moving”.^[2] Derivatives include bougeotte (1859), mostly in avoir la bougeotte, and bougé (about 1950), a blur in a photograph caused by movement.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1150 – Bougier “to stir”.^[2]
• 1175 – In Chrétien de Troyes.^[7]
• 1354 – Anglo-Norman bouger “to budge”.^[9]
• 17th century – Se bouger used freely by Molière and Racine.^[2]
• 1859 – Bougeotte.^[2][4]
• c. 1950 – Bougé in photography.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To move, make a movement, stir: le blessé ne bouge plus, que personne ne bouge !.^[8][10]
2. To change place, go out: je ne bouge pas de chez moi aujourd'hui.^[8][10]
3. To be loose or unsteady: une dent qui bouge.^[7][11]
4. (familiar) To change: les prix n'ont pas bougé.^[8][10]
5. (of a group) To stir, agitate in protest: le peuple commence à bouger.^[8][10]
6. (familiar, transitive) To move, shift (something).^[8][2]
7. (familiar) Se bouger: to get moving, make an effort.^[2]

Word family

• bougeotte
• bougé
• bougement

Related words

• déplacer
• mouvoir
• remuer
• bouillir
• English budge

Usage notes

Littré also lists a transitive technical verb bouger “to give a rounded shape to”, which he connects with bouge “bulge”.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c 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, 617b
6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
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 e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)