chausser

Forms

chausser^[1] Old French calcer and chalcier (about 1100), then chaucier (1155).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chaucier, inherited from Latin calceō (“to put on shoes”), recorded in Latin from Varro on in its past participle.^[2][5][1] The Latin verb is derived from calceus (“shoe, half-boot”), whose feminine form gave chausse.^[4][6]

Cognate with Picard caucher, Italian calzare, Spanish calzar and Portuguese calçar,^[7] and with Romanian încălța.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as calcer in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), meaning to put on or fasten on one's feet hose or spurs: Lur esperons ont en lur piez calcez “they have fastened their spurs on their feet”.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

From the start the object could be the thing put on, the part of the body, or the person dressed in it (1155); the pronominal se chausser “to put one's shoes on” is found in Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval (1174–1187).^[2][4] From these uses came the senses “to fit well or badly”, said of a shoe (1225–1230, in the Roman de la Rose), and “to supply someone with shoes”, recorded by Cotgrave in 1611.^[2][4]

By extension the verb was used for putting on spectacles from 1552 (Rabelais, chausser ses lunettes).^[2][4] A figurative use “to take into one's mind, conceive” (1566) has died out.^[4] Furetière records in 1690 both chausser le cothurne, for writing or playing tragedy, and the gardening sense “to bank up earth around the foot of a plant”, which is still in use.^[2][4] A musical sense, chausser les voix “to pitch the voices”, appears in the Trévoux dictionary of 1732.^[2]

Its derivative chaussure (about 1175) soon became the general word for footwear.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Calcer “to put on (hose, spurs)” appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• 1155 – Wace's Brut has the form chaucier, and the sense “to dress (a person)”.^[2]
• 1174–1187 – The pronominal use appears in Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval.^[2]
• 1225–1230 – Guillaume de Lorris uses it of a shoe that fits well or badly.^[2][4]
• 1552 – Rabelais writes chausser ses lunettes “to put on one's spectacles”.^[2]
• 1566 – A figurative sense “to take into one's mind” is recorded.^[2][4]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the sense “to supply with shoes”.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records the gardening sense and chausser le cothurne.^[2]
• 1732 – The Trévoux dictionary records a musical use.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To put on (shoes, boots, stockings); by analogy, to put on skis or snowshoes: il chausse ses bottes avant de sortir.^[9][2]
2. (intransitive) To take a given shoe size: elle chausse du 38.^[9][1]
3. To put shoes on (someone); to supply (someone) with footwear; reflexive se chausser: to put one's shoes on.^[9][1]
4. Of a shoe: to fit (well or badly).^[2][4]
5. (familiar) To put on glasses, settle them on one's nose.^[9]
6. (horticulture) To bank up earth around the foot of (a plant), to mulch.^[4][1]
7. To shoe (a horse).^[1]
8. Chausser le cothurne: to write or act tragedy;^[7][3] chausser le brodequin: to write or act comedy.^[7][3]

Word family

• chaussure
• chausseur
• chausse-pied
• déchausser
• enchausser
• rechausser

Related words

• chausse
• chausses
• chaussette
• chausson
• Latin calceus

Usage notes

The proverb les cordonniers sont toujours les plus mal chaussés (“the shoemaker's children go barefoot”) is built on the past participle.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 r s 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 68a
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert