cercler

Forms

cercler^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French cercle + -er.^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary also allows a Vulgar Latin *circlō, from Latin circulor, which would make it a doublet of circuler.^[1] The noun is from Latin circulus, a derivative of circus (“circle”).^[5]

Compare Italian cerchiare and Walloon seklé.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The past participle cerclé is used of a helmet fitted with a hoop by Benoît de Sainte-Maure in 1160;^[2][7] Anglo-Norman texts have the verb “to encircle” from about 1136–1137.^[8] The infinitive first appears before 1544 in Marot, “to set in a circle”: Ne vueille aucun autour des doigts cercler / Verte esmeraude (“Let no one wish to ring green emerald around his fingers”).^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Marot's use stayed isolated; the verb spread in the 18th century with the technical sense “to bind (a cask) with hoops” (1723), and cerclé was used of casks in heraldry from 1690.^[2][7] The extended sense “to lie around” (1862) gave way to encercler.^[7][2] Cercler produced cerclage (1819).^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1136 – Anglo-Norman records of the verb, “to encircle”.^[8]
• 1160 – Cerclé, of a helmet, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^[2]
• before 1544 – Marot uses cercler “to set in a circle”.^[2][6]
• 1690 – Cerclé of casks in heraldry, in Furetière.^[2]
• 1723 – Savary des Bruslons records “to hoop a cask”.^[2]
• 1819 – The derivative cerclage.^[7]
• 1862 – “To lie around”.^[2][7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bind or fit with hoops or rings, as a cask or a wheel.^[4][2][9]
2. To edge or adorn with a circle: lunettes cerclées d'or “gold-rimmed glasses”.^[4][9]
3. (literary) To encircle, to lie in a ring around.^[9][2]

Word family

• cerclage

Related words

• cercle
• encercler
• cerceau

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 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse