branler

Forms

branler^[1] Old French bransler, the first form recorded (1080).^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French bransler, probably a contracted form from Old French brandeler (“to sway, wobble”), which was formed on the stem of brandir with the suffix -eler.^[2][3][4][5] This verb is found only about 1175, but Bloch and Wartburg call it frequent in the Middle Ages in the senses “to shake” and “to sway”.^[2][3] Littré quotes it from Guiart, beside the related Old French brander.^[6]

That verb is derived from Old French brand (“sword”), properly “firebrand”, a word of Germanic origin;^[3][5] Wiktionary traces it to Frankish *brand, from Proto-Germanic *brandaz (“burning, firebrand, sword”).^[1] The DHLF and Wiktionary reject a Vulgar Latin *brandulō, because the suffix ⟨-ulare⟩ was hardly productive at that time.^[2][1] The Grand Robert also mentions Guiraud's proposal of a Gallo-Romance *branculō “to move the paws” or “to wave like a branch”, from Late Latin branca (“paw”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1080) it means to brandish or shake a weapon, as brandir did in warlike contexts: l'espée en a branlie, “he brandished his sword at it”.^[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The warlike sense gave way to the general one of shaking or moving a part of the body from side to side or up and down (1546), as in branler la tête (1546) and branler le chef, which keeps the old meaning of chef “head”;^[2] branler le menton meant “to eat” (1656).^[2] The intransitive sense “to totter, sway” is found about 1165, and survives in figurative phrases such as branler dans le manche “to be in a shaky position” (1593).^[2] In Quebec this phrase, and then the verb alone, came to mean “to hesitate”.^[2]

In vulgar language the verb meant “to have sex” (1596), now obsolete, and “to masturbate” (before 1585); this sense, also reflexive from 1785, became the usual one and made the general uses ambiguous, at least in France, so that the reflexive “to stir” (about 1285) and “to swing” (1671) died out.^[2] From it came s'en branler “not to care” (1953) and the transitive sense “to do” (mid-20th century), as in qu'est-ce qu'il branle ?, parallel to foutre.^[2][8]

Timeline

• c. 1080 – Bransler “to brandish (a weapon)” in the Chanson de Roland.^[2][3]
• c. 1165 – First intransitive use, “to totter, sway”.^[2]
• c. 1175 – Brandeler, the form it is contracted from, is recorded.^[2]
• c. 1285 – Reflexive use “to stir”.^[2]
• 1546 – Branler la tête “to shake one's head”.^[2]
• before 1585 – First record of the sense “to masturbate”.^[2][4]
• 1593 – Branler dans le manche “to be in a precarious position”.^[2]
• 1656 – Branler le menton “to eat”.^[2]
• 1785 – The reflexive se branler “to masturbate”.^[2]
• 1953 – S'en branler “not to care”.^[2][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, dated) To shake or move to and fro; now mainly in branler la tête, to shake one's head.^[4][8][6]
2. (transitive, vulgar) To masturbate (someone); reflexive se branler, to masturbate.^[4][8][1]
3. (transitive, vulgar, figurative) To do: qu'est-ce qu'il branle ?, what is he up to?, and j'en ai rien à branler, I couldn't care less.^[4][8][1]
4. (vulgar) S'en branler: not to care about something.^[4][8]
5. (intransitive) To be unsteady, to wobble: Le pied de la table branle.^[4][8]
6. Branler dans le manche: (of a tool) to be loose in its handle; figuratively, to be in a precarious position.^[4][8][6]

Word family

• branlage
• branle
• branlement
• branlette
• branleur
• branle-bas
• ébranler

Related words

• brandir
• Frankish *brand

Usage notes

Because of the vulgar sense, the Petit Robert marks the general uses as dated or limited to set phrases; the DHLF notes that the erotic sense is less dominant in Quebec French.^[4][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e f g h 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