chasseur

Forms

chasseur m (plural chasseurs, feminine chasseuse or chasseresse)^[1] Old French chaceür, chaceor; the old nominative was chacere.^[1][2][3] The feminine chasseresse is recorded before 1305 and chasseuse in 1551.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is from French chasser + -eur.^[1][5][6] The verb chasser goes back to Vulgar Latin *captiō (“to try to catch”).^[7]

Cognate with Italian cacciatore, Spanish cazador, Portuguese caçador and Occitan cassador.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in the Laws of William the Conqueror (early 12th century), is chaceürs for horses used for hunting or running, as opposed to the palefroi.^[3][4][2]

Semantic evolution

From the early 13th century, and above all until the 17th, it named the person who hunts.^[3][4] By extension it was used of anyone who seeks something eagerly (chasseur de millions, 1835, Balzac), and some later phrases are calqued on English hunter, such as chasseur de primes.^[3][4]

The servant employed on an estate to hunt for his master (1718, Académie) became a liveried footman (1787, Laclos) and then a liveried attendant in a hotel or restaurant (1890).^[3][4] The military sense goes back to a company of light troops created in 1670, on foot and, from 1743 on horseback; the word passed to the navy (1831) and to aviation, for a fighter plane (1937).^[4][3] In cooking, lapin chasseur is short for a rabbit with a sauce chasseur, first made for game.^[4]

Timeline

• early 12th century – Chaceür “hunting horse” in the Laws of William the Conqueror.^[3]
• early 13th century – Used of a hunter, in Dolopathos.^[3]
• before 1305 – The feminine chaceresse.^[3]
• 1670 – A company of chasseurs à pied is created.^[3][4]
• 1718 – The Académie records the estate servant who hunts for his master.^[3]
• 1743 – Light cavalry called chasseurs.^[3]
• 1835 – Balzac's chasseur de millions.^[3]
• 1890 – A hotel or restaurant attendant.^[3]
• 1937 – A fighter plane.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hunter, a person who hunts; also an animal that hunts well.^[8][6]
2. A person who eagerly seeks something: chasseur d'images, chasseur de têtes (a headhunter).^[8][6]
3. A bellboy, a liveried attendant in a hotel or restaurant.^[6][1]
4. A soldier of certain light infantry or cavalry units: chasseurs alpins, chasseurs à cheval.^[6][2]
5. A fighter aircraft.^[1][4]
6. (cooking) Sauce chasseur: a sauce with mushrooms, shallots and white wine; also as an adjective, poulet chasseur.^[1][4]

Word family

• chasseur-cueilleur
• chasseresse

Related words

• chasser
• chasse

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert