clore

Forms

clore (defective)^[1] Old French also had the forms il cloe, nous cloons, il clooit beside il clot.^[2] Anglo-Norman spellings include clorre, cloer and closer.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French clore, inherited from Latin claudō (“to shut”).^{[4][5][1][6][7]} The Latin verb belongs with clāvis (“key”) and clāvus (“nail”), a family of forms in ⟨clau-⟩ whose relationship is doubtful, compared with Old Church Slavonic ключь (ključĭ, “key”).^[8]

Cognate with Old Occitan claure, Catalan cloure and Italian chiudere, the Italian verb being remade on clūdō.^[9][10][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the first half of the 12th century in the Charroi de Nîmes, in poing clos “clenched fist”, meaning to close or shut; the Couronnement de Louis (second quarter of the 12th century) uses it for surrounding with a wall.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Very common in Old and Middle French, in its literal sense and in the reflexive se clore “to come to an end” (1405), clore was almost entirely replaced by fermer.^[8][4] Gilliéron explained this by the clash of several of its forms with those of clouer “to nail”: the 16th century still wrote clouant les yeux for “closing the eyes”.^[4][9][10] The sense “to surround with a wall” passed to enclore and clôturer.^[8] The verb survives in some forms and set phrases, and in southern dialects and some of the North-East, the East and French-speaking Switzerland.^[9] Its derivatives held up better: the participle clos is in à la nuit close and maison close (1931).^[8]

Timeline

• 1100–1150 – Poing clos in the Charroi de Nîmes.^[4]
• 1125–1150 – The Couronnement de Louis uses it for enclosing with a wall.^[4]
• 1405 – Se clore “to come to an end”, of accounts.^[4][8]
• 1474 – The sense “to put an end to”.^[6]
• 1931 – Maison close “brothel”.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (literary) To close, shut, so as to bar access: clore la grille du jardin.^[11][6]
2. (dated) To enclose with a wall or fence.^[11][2]
3. (literary) To bring to an end: clore l'année par une fête.^[11]
4. To declare closed: clore la réunion.^[11][2]
5. Clore le bec à quelqu'un (dated, familiar): to shut someone up.^[11][6]

Word family

• clos
• déclore
• forclore

Related words

• éclore
• enclore
• clôture
• Latin claudō

Usage notes

Clore is defective, used only in some tenses and persons; its contrary is déclore.^[1][11] It is a homophone of chlore.^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 747a
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
10. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert