charade

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʃa.ʁad/^[1]

Forms

charade f (plural charades)^[1]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Occitan charrado (“chat, conversation”) (Provençal),^[2][3][4][5] a derivative of Occitan charrá (“to chat, chatter”), an imitative word related to Italian ciarlare (“to prattle”) and Spanish charlar (compare charabia, charlatan).^[2][3][4][6] Littré instead took it from a Provençal “charrada” “cartload”, used by a playful metaphor.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Sabatier's Dictionnaire de littérature (1770) presents it as a Languedoc word for talk that passes the time: allons faire des charades, let's go and spend the evening at someone's house.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

It soon became the name of a word game (Encyclopédie, Supplement, 1777): a word of several syllables is guessed from definitions of words that sound like each syllable (mon premier, mon second) and of the whole (mon tout).^[2][3][8] Bloch and Wartburg date this sense to 1798.^[4] By extension Balzac (1835) used it for something strange or puzzling (une charade vivante).^[2][3] In acted charades (charades en action) the parts are mimed.^[9][8] English charade was borrowed in 1776.^[10] In Louisiana French it still means a chat.^[1]

Timeline

• 1770 – A Languedoc word, in Sabatier.^[2]
• 1776 – English charade.^[10]
• 1777 – A word game, in the Encyclopédie.^[2]
• 1834 – Charadier in Balzac.^[2]
• 1835 – “Puzzle”, in Balzac.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A charade (word riddle): mon premier est…, mon tout est…, charade en action: acted charade.^[9][8]
2. (figurative) Something puzzling, a riddle.^[8][1]
3. (Louisiana) A chat, conversation.^[1]

Related words

• charabia
• charlatan
• English charade

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 362b
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com