bougie

Forms

bougie f (plural bougies)^[1] Middle French also bougye (15th century).^[2]

Etymology

It is from French Bougie used as a common noun, the French name of the Algerian town Arabic بجاية (Buǧāya) (Béjaïa), which supplied large amounts of wax for candles in the Middle Ages.^{[3][4][5][6][1]} The word first meant the fine wax of Bougie (1300), and then, by metonymy, a candle made of it.^[4][3][7] Meyer-Lübke's REW instead derives the French word from Spanish bugía, itself from the town's name.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1300 in chandeles de bougie “candles of fine wax”.^[4][7] The 14th-century Ménagier still prices bougie by the pound, as wax.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The sense “candle” appears in 1493,^[3][1] or 1495 according to the Grand Robert.^[5] It stayed distinct both from cierge, the church candle, and chandelle: Furetière's dictionary (1690) shows chandelle as the ordinary tallow light of common and middle-class homes, and bougie as the fine-wax light of the court and the nobility.^[3] This is why the many set phrases grew up around chandelle, although bougie has outlived it.^[3]

From its shape it named a surgical instrument for exploring or widening a canal (1690), and by its function the igniter of an internal-combustion engine (1888).^[3][7] It was also the name of a unit of luminous intensity (1922).^[3][7] The slang sense “face” (1890) probably comes from a comparison such as pâle comme de la bougie.^[3] English took the word as bougie, first for the surgical instrument (1754) and then for a wax candle (1755).^[9]

Timeline

• 1300 – Chandeles de bougie “candles of fine wax” is recorded.^[4][7]
• 1493 – It means “candle”.^[3]
• 1514 – The derivative bougeoir “candlestick” appears, as boujoué.^[4][3]
• 1690 – Furetière records the surgical sense.^[7][3]
• 1754 – English borrows it for the surgical instrument.^[9]
• 1888 – The sense “spark plug” is recorded.^[7][3]
• 1890 – Slang uses it for the face.^[3]
• 1922 – It names a unit of luminous intensity.^[7][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A candle, a wick in a cylinder of wax or stearin: Elle a soufflé la bougie avant de dormir.^[10][11][12]
2. (medicine) A bougie, a thin flexible or rigid rod inserted into a canal of the body to explore or dilate it.^[10][2]
3. (dated) A former unit of luminous intensity, replaced by the candela.^[10]
4. (motoring) A spark plug: Le mécanicien a changé les bougies.^[11][10][1]
5. (slang, dated) The face.^[3][12]

Word family

• bougeoir

Related words

• English bougie

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 19, 35a
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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 Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
12. ^ 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