chanceler

Forms

chanceler^[1] Old French canceler (1100), then chanceler (1130–1160).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chanceler, inherited from Latin cancellō (“to arrange like a lattice”).^[2][3][4] The Latin verb is derived from cancellī (“grating, lattice”),^[2][3] a diminutive of cancrī (“bars”), itself a dissimilated form of carcer (“barrier, prison”).^[3] Pliny already used the verb of arms folded across each other like a lattice; the TLFi explains the French sense as walking with unsteady, half-crossing legs,^[2][3] while Bloch and Wartburg see in it walking in a zigzag, like the bars of a grating.^[5] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert call the change of meaning obscure.^[6][7] Diez derived the verb from chance, which Littré rejected because the word would then have had four syllables.^[8] Its doublet is canceller.^[1]

Cognate with Italian cancellare and Old Occitan canselar.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (1100) has canceler “to totter”: Charles cancele, por peu qu’il n’est cheüt “Charles staggers, he nearly falls”.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

From the first records the verb means to be unsteady on one's legs, and by about 1275 it is used figuratively of faltering confidence or memory.^[3][2] In Old French it also meant to cross one's arms and to strike out, annul, a sense already found in legal Latin.^[5][10] From it come chancelant (12th century) and the rare chancellement.^[3][5]

Timeline

• 1100 – Canceler “to totter” in the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• 1130–1160 – Chanceler in the Couronnement de Louis.^[2]
• 12th century – chancelant appears.^[3]
• c. 1275 – First figurative use, in Alexandre de Paris.^[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To totter, stagger, to sway as if about to fall: chanceler de sommeil.^[7][2][1]
2. Of an object, to wobble.^[1][7]
3. (figurative) To be threatened with ruin or collapse.^[7]
4. (figurative) To waver, to be unsure: sa mémoire chancelle.^[7][8][1]

Word family

• chancelant
• chancellement

Related words

• chancel
• chancelier
• Latin cancellō

Usage notes

The ⟨l⟩ is doubled before a mute syllable: je chancelle, je chancellerai.^[8] The verb takes avoir.^[8]

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 172a
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)