Etymologically
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chauffer

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʃo.fe/[1]

Forms

chauffer[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chaufer, inherited from Vulgar Latin *calefāre, a shortening of Latin calefacere (“to make warm; to excite”),[2][3][4][5] a compound of caleō (“to be warm”) and faciō (“to make”).[2][3] Meyer-Lübke notes that the relation of the Romance ending to “facere” is not quite clear.[6]

Cognate with Old Occitan calfar and Catalan calfar.[4][1] The verb is found in all the Gallo-Romance dialects except part of the Franco-Provençal area and the far south-east, which use the type “échauder”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first used intransitively in the mid-12th century, in Wace's Saint Nicolas, meaning “to become hot”.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The transitive sense “to make hot” appears figuratively in Chrétien de Troyes' Cligès (1176) and literally in his Perceval;[2] a 13th-century fabliau has the smith who chauffe son fer.[2] In 1421 chauffer meant to torture with fire.[2][8] The reflexive se chauffer (13th century) gave the proverb montrer de quel bois on se chauffe “to show what one is made of” (1585).[2][3]

In 1690 Furetière recorded ce n'est pas pour vous que le four chauffe;[2] ça va chauffer “there's going to be trouble” dates from the 1830s–1840s.[3][2] The Académie recorded chauffer quelqu'un “to press someone hard” in 1798,[2] and of an engine chauffer means “to overheat” (1906).[9][3] In Quebec French it means “to drive (a car)”, after chauffeur.[3][1]

Timeline

  • Mid-12th century – “To become hot”, in Wace.[2]
  • 1176 – Transitive, figuratively, in Cligès.[2]
  • 1265 – The noun chauffage.[4]
  • 1421 – “To torture with fire”.[2]
  • 1585 – De quel bois on s'y chauffe.[2]
  • 1680 – Chauffeur “stoker”.[3]
  • 1798 – Chauffer quelqu'un “to press hard”.[2]
  • 1906 – Of an engine overheating.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive) To heat, warm: chauffer de l'eau, chauffer une maison, chauffer à blanc: to make white-hot.[10][11]
  2. (figurative, familiar) To excite, fire up: chauffer la salle.[10][12]
  3. (intransitive) To heat up, get hot; of an engine, to overheat.[10][9]
  4. (familiar) Ça va chauffer: there's going to be trouble.[3][2]
  5. (Quebec) To drive (a vehicle).[1][3]
  6. (reflexive) To warm oneself; to heat one's home: se chauffer au bois.[3][10]

Word family

  • chauffage
  • chauffe-eau
  • chaufferette
  • chaufferie
  • chauffeur
  • réchauffer
  • chauffe
  • chauffard
  • surchauffer
  • chaud
  • chaleur
  • échauffer
  • Latin calefaciō
  • English chafe

Usage notes

A slang chauffer “to rob passers-by; to steal” (about 1840) is probably from popular Italian ciuffare.[7][2]

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 j k l m n o p q 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 j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d 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. 2, 78b
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse