briller

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bʁi.je/^[1]

Forms

briller^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian brillare (“to move about, flutter; to sparkle”) (1559), which meant “to move about, beat the wings quickly” in the second half of the 15th century and “to give off flashes of light” in the first half of the 16th; the Italian word is of obscure origin.^[2][3][4] Rey thinks it most likely of imitative origin, from a stem *pir(l)- (“to whirl, move about”) also seen in prillare (“to spin round”) and words for a spinning top (compare pirouette); the light sense would then come from the trembling twinkle of the stars.^[2][3][5] Bloch and Wartburg, the GLLF and Littré prefer Latin bēryllus (“beryl”), “to shine like a beryl”,^[6][4][7] as does Wiktionary;^[1] Rey finds this less satisfying, since the sense of movement is the older one in Italian.^[2]

Compare Old Occitan brillar, Spanish brillar and Portuguese brilhar.^[7] Littré was surprised that a word so old in the other Romance languages appears in French only in the 16th century.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Amyot uses it in 1559;^[4] in the 16th century it meant “to move about” (Ronsard) and “to be restless with impatience” (1559).^[2][6] In Amyot young Roman nobles brilloient d'ardeur de combatre, “burned with eagerness to fight”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In hunting it was said of a dog that quests well for game (1583); these senses of movement died out in the first half of the 17th century.^[2][4] The sense “to give off flashes of light”, found from 1564, prevailed instead, with metaphorical uses (1608) and figurative ones: “to show itself brilliantly” (1644), “to stand out by some quality” (1651) and, before 1709, “to excel, succeed”.^[2]

The present participle brillant became an adjective in 1564, and un brillant, a cut diamond, is from 1671.^[2] brillantine (1823) was a preparation to make hair glossy.^[6]

Timeline

• 1559 – First record, in Amyot;^[4][2] “to be restless”.^[4][2]
• 1564 – “To give off light”; the adjective brillant.^[2][3]
• 1583 – Of a hunting dog.^[2]
• 1644 – “To show itself brilliantly”.^[2]
• 1651 – “To stand out”.^[2]
• 1671 – Un brillant, a cut diamond.^[2]
• Before 1709 – “To excel”.^[2]
• 1823 – Brillantine.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To shine, to give off or reflect a bright light: Le soleil brille, diamant qui brille de mille feux, faire briller, to polish.^[8][1]
2. Of the eyes or face, to sparkle, light up: des yeux qui brillent.^[8]
3. (figurative) To stand out, excel: briller en société, (ironic) briller par son absence, to be conspicuous by one's absence.^[8][2]
4. (obsolete) To move about restlessly; of a hound, to quest for game.^[2][4]

Word family

• brillant
• brillantine

Usage notes

The proverb tout ce qui brille n'est pas or means “all that glitters is not gold”.^[8]

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 n o p q 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 d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert