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chagrin

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French has two words spelled chagrin: one meaning “sorrow, grief”, formed in French, and the name of a grained leather, borrowed from Turkish.[1][2]

chagrin1 sorrow

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʃa.ɡʁɛ̃/[3]

Forms

chagrin m (plural chagrins)[3]

Etymology

The adjective and noun meaning “sorrow” are probably formed from the verb chagriner, although the adjective (1389) is recorded earlier than the verb (1424).[4][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg take the verb to be a compound of chat and grigner (“to grimace, grumble”), comparing German Katzenjammer “hangover”, literally “cats' lament”.[6] The FEW files it under Frankish *grīnan (“to grimace”),[7] and Wiktionary suggests a Frankish word akin to German Gram (“grief”).[3]

Littré thought instead that it was the name of the rough leather used for polishing, applied by metaphor to a gnawing sorrow;[8] the Dictionnaire historique notes that the leather word itself was later altered under the influence of this one.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective is first found in 1389 (Jean Le Petit), meaning “saddened (by some annoying event)”.[5][4]

Semantic evolution

The noun follows in 1450.[4][1] In 15th- and 16th-century texts it is spelled chalgrin and chagryn;[8] Palsgrave (1530) writes that chagryn makes people old before their time.[8][6] In the 17th century it meant irritation or bad temper, as in Molière's “Quel chagrin vous possède ?”;[1] the modern sense “grief, sorrow” then prevailed.[1] The adjective meant “inclined to discontent, morose” from 1534 (Rabelais) and is now dated or literary.[5][10]

The proverb araignée du matin, chagrin (“a spider in the morning means sorrow”) is recorded from 1812.[11]

Timeline

  • 1389 – The adjective appears.[4][5]
  • 1424 – First record of the verb chagriner.[6]
  • 1450 – The noun “sorrow” appears.[4][1]
  • 1534 – Rabelais uses the adjective for a morose temper.[5]
  • 1812 – Araignée du matin, chagrin recorded.[11]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Grief, sorrow: a painful state of mind.[1][12]
  2. Un chagrin: a particular sorrow or disappointment: un chagrin d'amour.[1]
  3. (17th century) Irritation, bad temper.[1]

Adjective

  1. (dated) Saddened, distressed.[10][4]
  2. (literary) Morose, gloomy: un esprit chagrin.[10][3]

Word family

  • chagriner
  • chagrinant

chagrin2 leather

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʃa.ɡʁɛ̃/[3]

Forms

chagrin m (plural chagrins)[1]

Etymology

The leather is borrowed from Turkish sağrı (“rump of an animal; leather made from it”),[2][9][13] the hide from the hindquarters.[9] It appears first as “sagrin”, then “chagrain”, and the change from s to ch is probably due to the influence of chagrin1 “sorrow”;[2][9] Bloch and Wartburg see a crossing with grain instead.[6] Littré compares Venetian “sagrin” and Italian zigrino,[8] which Bloch and Wartburg say comes from French.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Peau de sagrin is found in Jean Palerne's account of his travels (late 16th century, printed in 1606), an isolated form;[2][9] peau de chagrain follows in 1648 and chagrin in 1655.[2]

Semantic evolution

The spellings chagrain and chagrin competed through the 17th and 18th centuries.[2] The word names a grained leather of mule, donkey, horse or goat skin used in bookbinding and fine leather goods.[2][1] Peau de chagrin entered general use as a figure of something that keeps shrinking, after Balzac's novel La Peau de chagrin (1831).[9] The derived verb chagriner “to grain (a hide)” dates from 1784.[2]

Timeline

  • Late 16th century – Peau de sagrin in Palerne.[2]
  • 1648 – Peau de chagrain.[2]
  • 1655 – Chagrin in Borel's Trésor.[2]
  • 1831 – Balzac's La Peau de chagrin.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Shagreen, a grained leather used in bookbinding: relié en plein chagrin.[1][2]
  2. Sharkskin with abrasive denticles.[12]
  3. Peau de chagrin: something that keeps shrinking.[9][12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  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. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  6. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 68b
  8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  12. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  13. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 19, 149a