crever
Pronunciation
- IPA: /kʁə.ve/[1]
Forms
crever[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Old French crever, inherited from Latin crepō (“to rattle, crack, burst”).[2][3][4][5][1][6] The Latin verb belongs to an expressive group built on the sound “kr-”, as in Ancient Greek κράζω (krázō, “to cry”); it was said of anything that splits or bursts noisily, and in late popular Latin of living beings that die.[3][7] The idea of noise has disappeared in French but survives in crépiter, from the frequentative.[3][7]
Cognate with Romanian crăpa, Italian crepare, Occitan crebar, Catalan crebar, Spanish quebrar (“to break”) and Portuguese quebrar; the familiar sense “to die” is shared with the Italian and Romanian words.[7][1]
Earliest recorded meaning
The Vie de saint Léger (late 10th century) has lis ols crever, to put out his eyes.[2][4][8]
Semantic evolution
Wace uses it intransitively for dying (1130–1140) and for bursting (1155), and transitively for killing (1160–1170).[2][3] In Old French crever of a person only implied a violent death; it became familiar in the 17th century while still poetic, and since the early 19th century it is pejorative and aggressive, as in crever la paillasse à qqn (1808).[3] Until the 17th century the dawn could crever, break: L'aube creva, si prist à ajourner.[3][9]
Crever d'ire “to burst with anger” is in Gautier de Coinci (about 1223) and crever d'en rire in d'Aubigné (before 1630), now felt as “to die laughing”.[2][3] Faire crever un cheval dates from 1613, se crever “to wear oneself out” from 1680, crevant “exhausting” from 1876 and “hilarious” from 1880; a petit crevé was a dandy (1867).[2] Crever les yeux “to be obvious” and the puncture of a tyre are modern uses.[8][7]
Timeline
- late 10th century – Lis ols crever, Vie de saint Léger.[2]
- 1130–1140 – “To die”, Wace.[2]
- 1155 – “To burst”, Wace.[2]
- c. 1223 – D'ire crever, Gautier de Coinci.[2]
- 1554 – “To stuff with food”, Calvin.[2]
- 1680 – Se crever “to wear oneself out”, Richelet.[2]
- 1808 – Crever la paillasse à qqn.[3]
- 1880 – Crevant “hilarious”, Zola.[2]
Meanings
Verb
- To burst, split open: le ballon a crevé, un abcès qui crève; to have a puncture.[7][1]
- (transitive) To burst, puncture: crever un pneu, crever les yeux, to be glaringly obvious.[8][1]
- (familiar) To die (of animals; vulgarly of people): crever de faim, crever de rire.[3][1]
- (familiar) To wear out, exhaust: ce travail me crève, se crever, to work oneself to death.[2][1]
- Crever de…: to be bursting with: crever d'envie, de jalousie.[7][2]
- (slang) Crever la dalle: to be starving.[1]
Word family
- crevaison
- crevant
- crevasse
- crève-cœur
- increvable
Related words
- crépiter
- décrépit
- Latin crepō
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1316b
- ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette