bouquin

bouquin¹ old he-goat, buck

Pronunciation

• /bu.kɛ̃/^[1]

Forms

bouquin m (plural bouquins, feminine hase)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the old he-goat is from French bouc (“he-goat”) + -in.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]}

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first an adjective, “goatish, having the strength or lust of a goat”: the DMF has a feminine boucquine in La Vigne (1501), and the TLFi's first example is dieux demy boucquins “half-goat gods” in Jean Martin's translation of Sannazaro's Arcadia (1544).^[8][2][9]

Semantic evolution

As a noun it meant an old bouc: the TLFi's first example is from Paré (before 1590), the GLLF's from Robert Estienne (1549).^[2][10][5] Paré also wrote that the sick sentent le bouquin, “smell of goat”, and named a disease bouquin after that smell.^[6] The Académie of 1694 gives it for the satyrs, for their goat's feet, and un vieux bouquin for an old debauchee.^[11] In hunting the word was applied to the male hare and rabbit (Trévoux, 1732; the Abbé Prévost, 1750).^[10][2] The derived verb bouquiner, recorded by Cotgrave for “to live like a goat”, is used today of a buck covering the female (1655).^[9]

Timeline

• 1501 – La Vigne uses the feminine adjective boucquine.^[8]
• 1544 – Dieux demy boucquins in Jean Martin's Arcadia.^[2][9]
• 1549 – Robert Estienne records it for an old he-goat.^[10][5]
• 1694 – The Académie records it for the satyrs.^[11]
• 1732 – Trévoux records the sense “male hare or rabbit”.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (obsolete) An old he-goat.^[4][12][2]
2. (hunting) A buck, the male hare or rabbit.^[4][12][1]

bouquin² book

Pronunciation

• /bu.kɛ̃/^[1]

Forms

bouquin m (plural bouquins)^[1] Middle French boucquain (1459), then bouquin from the late 16th century.^[9][3]

Etymology

The word for the book is borrowed from Middle Dutch *boeckijn (“little book”), an unrecorded diminutive of boec (“book”).^{[9][5][1][13]} The attested Middle Dutch diminutives boecskijn and boekelkijn are too late to account for the French word, so an early form is assumed;^[9][1] the Grand Robert calls the derivation doubtful.^[3] Wiktionary also allows a French formation from the Middle Dutch simple word with the suffix -in.^[1] Bloch and Wartburg point out that printing flourished at the time in Flanders, especially in Antwerp.^[5] The Middle Dutch word goes back, like Old English bōc, German Buch and Old Norse bók, to Proto-Germanic *bōks, which is usually derived from the word for the beech, *bōkā, whose wood served for the tablets on which runes were cut.^[9] Littré already preferred this origin to Génin's view that the old book was named for its bad smell.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest example is in Jacques Milet's Forest de Tristesse (1459), of a book condemned to be burnt: Le villain boucquin tant infame Sera bruslé “The vile book, so infamous, shall be burnt”.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was an old book of little worth;^[9][11] Furetière (1690) defined it as an old, crumpled and little-known book, and it was often used in vieux bouquin.^[9][11] It was then said scornfully of a modern book (1845) and finally, in familiar speech, of any book (1866), and in the 20th century of anything read for amusement, such as comic albums.^[9] At the same time it kept a favourable sense, “old, antique book”, in the trade of the bouquinistes (1752) of the Seine quays.^[9] The verb bouquiner (1611) meant to hunt for old books, then to read old books (1840) and, familiarly, simply to read (1884).^[9]

Timeline

• 1459 – Boucquain in Jacques Milet's Forest de Tristesse.^[8][9][3]
• 1565 – The date Bloch and Wartburg give for bouquin “old book”.^[5]
• 1611 – Bouquiner “to hunt for old books” is recorded.^[9][5]
• 1690 – Furetière defines it as an old, crumpled, little-known book.^[9]
• 1752 – Bouquiniste is recorded.^[9][5]
• 1845 – Used scornfully of a modern book.^[9]
• 1866 – Used of any book.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. An old book, one that has stood the test of time, or one of little value.^[2][1]
2. (familiar) Any book: Tu me prêtes ton bouquin ?^[12][2][1]

Word family

• bouquiner
• bouquiniste
• bouquineur
• bouquinerie