couver

Forms

couver^[1] Old French cover; the spelling couver dates from the 13th century.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cubō (“to lie down, be lying”), which must have developed the sense “to hatch eggs” in Vulgar Latin.^[3][4][5] Bloch and Wartburg put the specialization in the Latin period, comparing éclore, frayer, pondre and sevrer.^[5] Rey notes that the sense of lying down passed to coucher, from Latin collocō, while the Latin verb took a late sense that displaced its compound incubō.^[6]

Cognate with Old Occitan coar, Catalan covar and Italian covare; dialect forms include Walloon cover and Norman couer.^[7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire (1121–1135), of a bird sitting on its eggs.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the hatching of eggs the verb took the figurative sense “to surround with watchful care”, first said of the she-wolf with her cubs in the Roman de Renart (about 1175);^[3][6] the phrase couver des yeux “to gaze at fondly or greedily” is in Descartes in 1649.^[3][6]

Also in the 12th century it was used intransitively of something hidden that will break out in time, first of fire under the ashes (Chrétien de Troyes, about 1175), then of an illness (second half of the 14th century).^[3][6] Transitively it meant to nurse or secretly prepare something, a plot or a treason (about 1179).^[3][7] Bloch and Wartburg note that Italian has the figurative use of fire too, though it may have developed separately.^[5]

Timeline

• 1121–1135 – Philippe de Thaon uses it of a bird hatching eggs.^[3]
• c. 1175 – The Roman de Renart uses it of a she-wolf caring for her cubs.^[3][6]
• c. 1175 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it of fire smouldering under ashes.^[3]
• c. 1179 – First found in the sense “to nurse a hidden plan”.^[3]
• Second half of the 14th century – Gilles le Muisit speaks of an illness being couvée.^[3]
• 1649 – Couver des yeux appears in Descartes.^[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (of a bird) To sit on eggs to hatch them, to brood.^[8][3]
2. (figurative) To surround someone with excessive care, to coddle.^[8][1]
3. Couver des yeux: to look at with tenderness or covetousness.^[8]
4. To nurse or secretly prepare something, to plot a plan.^[8][1]
5. To be sickening for an illness, to carry its germs: couver un rhume.^[8][7]
6. (intransitive) To smoulder, to lie hidden or latent, ready to break out.^[8][3]

Word family

• couvade
• couvain
• couvaison
• couvée
• couveuse
• couvoir
• couvi

Related words

• incubation
• Latin cubō

Usage notes

Étonné comme une poule qui a couvé un œuf de cane describes someone amazed at the unexpected outcome of their own act.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1441b
5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert