chauffeur

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʃo.fœʁ/^[1]

Forms

chauffeur m (plural chauffeurs, feminine chauffeuse or chauffeure)^[1]

Etymology

It is from French chauffer + -eur.^[2][3][1] Chauffer “to heat” comes from Vulgar Latin *calefō, from classical Latin calefaciō (“to make warm”).^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The revised TLF etymology finds an isolated record in 1455, in Jean Prieur, where Lucifer makes a devil premier chauffeur de la chaudiere, the stoker of the cauldrons of hell; the word reappears from 1573 in Plantin's dictionary.^[5] Richelet (1680), long given as the first record, defines it as the man who works the bellows of a forge to make the metal red-hot.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

With the steam engine it named the stoker of a boiler (1825) and, in railway use, the fireman of a locomotive, the driver's assistant (1834).^[5][2][6] Although the two jobs differ, the word slid to the sense “driver of a motor car” in 1896, when early cars were often steam-driven; a feminine chauffeuse appears in 1898, and the pejorative chauffard “road hog” in 1897.^[2][7][6][8] The sense of a paid driver came later.^[9][8]

From the original sense “one who heats”, chauffeurs were also bandits who burned their victims' feet to make them reveal where their money was hidden; the word is found in newspapers of 1797, and the trial of the gang of Orgères recorded their slang.^[7][6][2] A chauffeuse is also a low chair for sitting by the fire (1830, Balzac).^[2][6]

English took chauffeur in 1896 for a motorist, and in 1902 for a paid driver of a private car.^[8]

Timeline

• 1455 – Isolated record in Jean Prieur, for the stoker of hell's cauldrons.^[5]
• 1680 – Richelet records it for the bellows-worker of a forge.^[2]
• 1797 – Newspapers report on the bandits called chauffeurs.^[7]
• 1834 – Used for the fireman of a locomotive.^[2][6]
• 1896 – Used for the driver of a motor car;^[2][7] English borrows it.^[2][7][8]
• 1897 – Chauffard is recorded.^[6]
• 1898 – The feminine chauffeuse is recorded.^[2][7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A driver of a motor vehicle, especially a professional one: chauffeur de taxi, de camion;^[10] chauffeur de maître, a private chauffeur.^[10][11]
2. (familiar) Someone who drives another person around in their own car.^[11]
3. A stoker, who tends the fire of a forge, furnace or boiler; the fireman of a steam locomotive.^[10][2]
4. (historical) A bandit who burned victims' feet to make them reveal their hidden money.^[10][11]

Word family

• chauffard
• chauffeuse

Related words

• chauffer
• chaud
• Latin calefacio
• English chauffeur

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d Steinfeld, Nadine; Buchi, Éva, eds. (2005–), TLF-Étym: révision des notices étymologiques du Trésor de la langue française informatisé, Nancy: ATILF
6. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)