couguar

Forms

couguar m (plural couguars)^[1] Also spelled cougouar (from 1768).^[2][3] Buffon also wrote cougar and couguard.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is ultimately from Tupi susuarana, the Tupi name of the animal, reshaped by Buffon, who said he took it “by contraction” from what he called its Brazilian name, cuguacuara.^[4][5][6][7] That name goes back to the Tupi word through forms garbled in travel accounts of Brazil: Portuguese suçuarana is recorded in 1587, and cuguacuarana, with the cedilla lost and ⟨s⟩ and ⟨c⟩ confused, in Piso and Marcgraf (1643).^[4][5][8] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF also call it a misreading, and think Buffon shaped it after jaguar.^[6][9][3] The Grand Robert explains the Brazilian Portuguese form by the influence of cuguacu, the source of cariacou.^[2] Littré instead connects Marcgraf's cuguacu ara with the Guarani name guaçu ara.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Buffon introduced it in his Histoire naturelle to name the large American wild cat;^[6][2][9][4] Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the GLLF date it to 1761, the TLFi to before 1788.^[6][2][9][4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the single sense of the American wild cat with a tawny unspotted coat, a synonym of puma.^[5][4][3] The English word cougar (1774) comes from the French word.^[10]

Timeline

• 1587 – Portuguese suçuarana is recorded.^[4][5]
• 1643 – Piso and Marcgraf print the garbled cuguacuarana.^[4][5]
• 1761 – Buffon names the animal couguar.^[6][2]
• 1768 – The spelling cougouar appears.^[2]
• 1774 – English borrows it as cougar.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The cougar or puma (Puma concolor), a large wild cat of the Americas with a tawny, unspotted coat.^{[4][1][11][12]}

Related words

• puma
• jaguar
• English cougar

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 20, 77b
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)