cache

Forms

cache f (plural caches)^[1] Cache is feminine in the sense “hiding place” (1561) and masculine in the sense “screen, mask” (1870).^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from French cacher (“to hide”).^[2][4][5][3] For the feminine “hiding place” the FEW proposed a back-formation from cachette, but the TLFi, after Bloch and Wartburg, judges the verb the more probable source;^[2][4] the masculine “screen, mask” is likewise taken from the verb,^[2][3] and Wiktionary sees in it a clipping of compounds such as cache-nez.^[1]

The verb, Old French quachier and cachier, comes from *coacticō, a strengthened form of Latin coāctō (“to constrain”), the frequentative of cōgō (“to compel, to collect”).^[3][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Marguerite de Navarre's Heptaméron (1558–59) has an isolated en cache “in secret”; in 1561 Du Fouilloux's Vénerie uses cache for a place to hide in.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The feminine word meant both the act of hiding and a hiding place;^[3][7][2] en cache gave way to en cachette, and in the sense “hiding place” the word is now dated or regional, though une cache d'armes is current.^[3][7][2] In Canada it named the place where the coureurs des bois hid their provisions,^[8] and English took cache from French Canadian trappers' usage in 1797.^[6]

The masculine cache is a modern technical word for an object that screens something: a sheet laid between printed sheets to prevent offset (1870), then a mask for parts of a photographic image (1898).^[2][3][7] In computing it names a fast temporary memory, by ellipsis of mémoire cache.^[1][8]

Timeline

• 1558–59 – En cache “secretly” in Marguerite de Navarre's Heptaméron.^[2][5]
• 1561 – Du Fouilloux uses cache for a hiding place.^[2][3][9]
• 1797 – English borrows cache from Canadian French.^[6]
• 1870 – The masculine cache is used in printing.^[2][3]
• 1898 – It is used in photography.^[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (feminine; dated or regional) A hiding place for someone or something.^[7][2][9]
2. (feminine) A secret store of goods: une cache d'armes.^[7]
3. (masculine) Anything used as a screen to hide something from view.^[2][7]
4. (masculine; photography, cinema) An opaque mask covering part of a film or print.^[7][2][9]
5. (masculine; computing) A cache, fast memory holding recently used data.^[1][8]

Related words

• cacher
• cachette
• cachot
• English cache

Usage notes

A feminine cache also named a net set on stakes in hunting and fishing; the Académie's supplement of 1842 records it, and the TLFi marks it obsolete.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, 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. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse