cogner

Forms

cogner^[1] Old French coignier, coigner;^[2] Middle French also congner.^[2]

Etymology

According to the TLFi it is formed from French coin (“wedge”) + -er, rather than taken from an Imperial Latin verb, Latin cuneō (“to wedge, fasten with a wedge”).^[3] Rey leaves both possibilities open,^[4] while the Grand Robert, the GLLF and the Petit Robert derive it from the Latin verb, itself from cuneus (“wedge”).^[5][6][7] The FEW places it under the Latin noun.^[8] Littré compared Berry cougner and Walloon counii.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi first finds it at the end of the 12th century in Jean le Nevelon's Vengeance Alexandre in the sense “to wedge in, jam”, and in the sense “to strike” in the first half of the 13th century.^[3] The GLLF dates both senses from about 1131, in the Couronnement de Louis, where knights coignent their shields together.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

The old senses “to wedge in” and “to strike coins” went out of use;^[4] “to drive in by striking” (13th century) survives transitively only in se cogner la tête contre les murs and, colloquially, in cogner quelqu'un “to beat someone up”.^[4] The verb is more alive with contre or sur or used absolutely.^[4] Littré still records the old sense “to drive into a corner” in the 16th century.^[2]

In slang it has meant “to stink” since 1913, through the image of a blow to the nose; the reflexive se cogner quelque chose, “to do without it” in 1900, means “to treat oneself to it” from 1914, and in boxing the verb has meant “to beat” since 1926.^[4] In Canada cogner des clous is to nod off sitting up.^[3] Its derivatives are mostly slang: un cogne “policeman” (1800) and cogneur “boxer” (1920).^[4][9]

Timeline

• c. 1131 – The Couronnement de Louis uses coignent “they strike together”.^[6][2]
• late 12th century – “To wedge in” in Jean le Nevelon.^[3]
• first half of the 13th century – “To strike” in Hugues Piaucele's fabliau D'Estormi.^[3]
• 1800 – The slang noun cogne “policeman” appears.^[4][9]
• 1913 – Slang cogner “to stink”.^[4]
• 1914 – Se cogner quelque chose “to treat oneself to something”.^[4]
• 1926 – In boxing, “to beat”.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, dated) To strike something in order to drive it in: cogner un clou.^[7][3]
2. (transitive) To knock or bump against something: se cogner la tête.^[7][6]
3. (reflexive) Se cogner: to bump oneself, to knock into something by accident: se cogner à un meuble.^[7][1]
4. (colloquial) To beat or hit someone.^[7][6]
5. (intransitive) To knock or bang on something: cogner à la porte.^[2][7]
6. (intransitive) To pound (of the heart).^[1]

Word family

• cogneur
• cogne

Related words

• coin
• cognée

Usage notes

Se cogner la tête contre les murs means to struggle against an insurmountable difficulty.^[7][2] Littré and 19th-century dictionaries record the phrase cogner un fétu “to busy oneself with trifles”.^[3][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1531b
9. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France