Etymologically
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croiser

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kʁwa.ze/[1]

Forms

croiser[1] Old French cruisier (about 1100); croiser from the 12th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French croix + -er (Old French crois),[4][3][1][5] from Latin crux (“cross”), through its accusative.[6]

Compare Old Occitan crozar, Catalan crusar, Spanish cruzar, Portuguese cruzar and Italian crociare.[7][8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has cruisier “to lay crosswise”: Cruisiedes ad ses blanches mains les beles (“he has crossed his fair white hands”).[4][7]

Semantic evolution

In the time of the crusades, long before the word croisade, soi cruisier meant “to take the cross”, to sew a cross on one's garment and vow to go on crusade (1174, Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence), and a croisé was a crusader (12th century).[4][9]

Se croiser “to meet going in opposite directions” is in Froissart (second half of the 14th century), and Aubigné has croiser le chemin à quelqu'un (1620).[4][9] The sense “to cut across (a line, a road)” dates from 1660 (Oudin).[2][10] In the navy (1671, Pomey) a ship croise when it sails to and fro in given waters to watch them, hence croisière (1680) and the modern croiseur “cruiser” (1690).[4][9][6] The breeders' sense “to cross (animals)” appears before 1782 (Raynal), croiser le fer in fencing in 1835.[4][9][10] Se croiser les bras has taken the figurative sense “to do nothing”.[9][2]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Cruisier “to lay crosswise”, in the Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • 1174 – Soi cruisier “to take the cross”.[4]
  • 1195 – Croisement.[9]
  • 2nd half of the 14th century – Se croiser “to pass each other”, in Froissart.[4]
  • 1620 – Croiser le chemin à quelqu'un.[4]
  • 1660 – “To cut across” (Oudin).[2]
  • 1671 – Naval “to cruise” (Pomey).[4]
  • Before 1782 – “To crossbreed”, in Raynal.[4]
  • 1835 – Croiser le fer.[10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To Cross, to lay one across the other: croiser les jambes, croiser les doigts, to keep one's fingers crossed, se croiser les bras, to sit idle.[10][1][2]
  2. Croiser le fer: to cross swords; figuratively, to clash with someone.[10][2]
  3. To cut across, intersect: La voie ferrée croise la route.[10][1]
  4. To pass (someone going the other way); to come across, run into: croiser quelqu'un, se croiser, to pass each other.[10][1]
  5. To crossbreed (animals, plants).[1][4]
  6. (nautical, intransitive) To cruise, to patrol an area at sea.[9][4]
  7. (historical) Se croiser: to take the cross, to go on crusade.[4][9]

Word family

  • croisade
  • croisement
  • croiseur
  • entrecroiser
  • croisière
  • croisé

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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1377a
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert