couvre-feu

Forms

couvre-feu m (plural couvre-feux)^[1] Old French covrefeu, cuevrefu and quevre feu.^[2][3] Plural couvre-feux;^[1][2] Littré also gives an invariable plural des couvre-feu.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from French couvre (“covers”) + feu (“fire”), made of the verb form “couvre” and the noun.^[3][4][5] The name refers to the bell that ordered people to cover or put out their fires and lights.^[2][6] Couvrir is from Latin cooperiō (“to cover completely”) and feu is from Latin focus.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in the Roman de Renart (first half of the 13th century), has covrefeu soner, the ringing of the evening bell after which people had to stay indoors with fires and lights put out.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In medieval towns the bell rang at a fixed hour, after which people had to go home and put out fires and lights: Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers (about 1268) forbids craftsmen to work after the quevre feu has rung at Saint-Merry.^[8][2] The same word, in its Anglo-Norman form, gave English curfew (early 14th century).^[6][9]

In 1636 Monet records it as the name of a utensil for covering the fire, a sense now obsolete.^[3][8] In religious communities and in the army it became the signal for lights out,^[8][4] and by extension a police measure forbidding people to go out after a set hour: décréter, lever le couvre-feu.^[8][10][4]

Timeline

• 1200–1250 – Covrefeu soner appears in the Roman de Renart.^[3]
• c. 1268 – Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers names the curfew bell.^[8][2]
• Early 14th century – English borrows the Anglo-Norman word as curfeu.^[6]
• 1636 – Monet records the sense “utensil for covering the fire”.^[3][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) The evening signal, usually a bell, telling people to go home and put out fires and lights.^[4][10][3]
2. The bell or bugle call for lights out in a community or a barracks.^[8][4]
3. A curfew, a police measure forbidding people to go out between set hours: décréter le couvre-feu, lever le couvre-feu.^[10][4][3]
4. (obsolete) A utensil for covering the fire to keep it in safely.^[2][8]

Related words

• couvrir
• feu¹
• couvre-chef
• couvre-lit
• couvre-pied
• English curfew

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert