crin

Forms

crin m (plural crins)^[1] Anglo-Norman crine, crin and cryn.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin crīnis (“hair, head of hair”), which probably also meant “horsehair” in Late Latin.^[3][4][5] Rey explains that the Latin word may first have named a woman's hairstyle of braids, then any long head of hair, and that in late Latin it took over the sense “long, coarse hair” that had belonged to saeta (the source of soie).^[6] He considers its only sound link to be with crista (the source of crête), from an earlier form ⟨*cris-ni-s⟩.^[6]

Cognate with Old Occitan crin, Italian crine, Catalan crin (feminine), Spanish crin and Portuguese crina.^[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears about 1050, in the plural crins, in the Vie de saint Alexis, meaning the hair of a person's head.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the word was used in elevated style for human hair, in the plural for the hairs and in the singular for the whole head of hair;^[7][6] this sense lasted in literary language until the 16th or 17th century and survives in Normandy.^[5][6] By 1690 Furetière noted that it was said of human hair only with contempt, suggesting coarseness.^[6]

The sense “hair of an animal”, above all of the horse, is recorded from about 1160 in the Roman d'Eneas and became the main one.^[3][6] From 1680 the word also named this hair as a material, as in crin d'archet “bow hair”, later replaced in part by plant or synthetic fibre.^[3][6] The phrase à tous crins (1840), first said of a horse left with all its hair, came to mean “thoroughgoing, out-and-out”,^[3][6] and the idea of roughness gave être comme un crin “to be in a bad temper”, used by Balzac in 1840.^[6][8]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Crins “hair” appears in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[3]
• c. 1160 – The Roman d'Eneas uses it for the hair of animals, especially horses.^[3][6]
• 1556 – The derivative crinière “mane” is first recorded.^[5][6]
• 1661 – Crin-crin is first recorded, at first as the name of a child's toy.^[6]
• 1680 – Richelet records crin d'archet “bow hair”.^[3]
• 1690 – Furetière notes that it is said of human hair only with contempt.^[6]
• 1840 – À tous crins is first recorded, and Balzac uses être comme un crin “to be bad-tempered”.^[3][6][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A long, coarse hair growing on the neck and tail of some animals, especially the horse (compare crinière).^[9][3]
2. This hair used as a material, for stuffing, brushes and the bows of stringed instruments: un matelas de crin.^[9][10]
3. Crin végétal: a plant fibre prepared to replace animal horsehair.^[9]
4. À tous crins (figurative): thoroughgoing, out-and-out, ardent.^[9][6]
5. (familiar or pejorative) The hair of a person.^[7][10]

Word family

• crinière
• crin-crin

Related words

• crête
• Latin crīnis

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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, 1342b
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 g h i j k l m n o p 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 Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse