Etymologically
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couler

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ku.le/[1]

Forms

couler[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cōlō (“to filter, strain, purify”), from cōlum (“sieve, strainer”), a rustic technical word of obscure origin.[2][3][4][5][6] Already in Latin the verb had come to mean “to flow” of a liquid, and “to slide”.[4]

Cognate with Italian colare, Occitan colar, Spanish colar and Portuguese coar; English colander comes from Old Occitan.[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Couronnement de Louis (1131) uses it intransitively of a liquid flowing; the Cambridge Psalter (first half of the 12th century) has the transitive “to filter, refine” (silver).[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 12th century it also meant to pour molten metal into something (Chrétien de Troyes, 1176), to thrust a sword into a body, and to slip (se couler, 1154–73).[2][3] Metalworking has couler le cuivre (Richelet, 1680), whence coulée and un coulé.[2] From about 1460 it was said of time passing, and transitively (Commynes, 1498) of spending time, as in couler des jours heureux, se la couler douce “to take it easy” (1835) replaced se la mener douce.[3][2] Cotgrave (1611) has it for flowers and fruit dropping off unformed, as vines do after rain.[2]

The sense “to sink”, of a ship or a person, appeared in the late 16th century and became one of the commonest; transitively it means to sink a ship (17th century) and figuratively to ruin someone (1738).[3] In Quebec couler un examen is to fail an exam; in the French Antilles couler le café is to make coffee.[3][1]

Timeline

  • first half of the 12th century – “To filter”, Cambridge Psalter.[2]
  • 1131 – “To flow”, Couronnement de Louis.[2]
  • 1176 – To pour molten lead, Chrétien de Troyes.[2]
  • c. 1460 – Of time passing.[3]
  • late 16th century – “To sink”.[3]
  • 1611 – Of flowers dropping, Cotgrave.[2]
  • 1835 – Se la couler douce.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive) To flow, run: la Seine coule à Paris, couler à flots, couler de source, to follow naturally.[7][1]
  2. (intransitive) To leak, run: le robinet coule, avoir le nez qui coule.[3][7]
  3. (intransitive) To sink, couler à pic; figuratively, to go under, go bankrupt.[1][2]
  4. (transitive) To sink (a ship); to ruin (someone, a business).[2][1]
  5. (transitive) To pour, cast (metal, concrete): couler une statue en bronze.[1][2]
  6. (transitive) To spend (time): se la couler douce, to take it easy.[3]
  7. (transitive) To slip: couler un regard, se couler, to slip, glide.[2][7]
  8. (transitive, Quebec) To fail (an exam).[1][3]

Word family

  • coulant
  • coulée
  • coulage
  • coulis
  • coulisse
  • couloir
  • coulure
  • découler
  • écouler
  • écoulement
  • percolateur
  • Latin cōlō
  • English colander

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 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 d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 877b
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette