cuir

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɥiʁ/^[1]

Forms

cuir m (plural cuirs)^[1] Old French quir (1080); cuir from about 1160.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French quir, inherited from Latin corium (“skin, hide; leather”).^[4][2][5][6] Rey and the Petit Robert relate the Latin word to an Indo-European root meaning “to cut”, the skin being what can be cut off;^[2][7] Latin carō (“flesh”) and Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō, “to cut”) belong to it too.^[2][7]

Cognate with Italian cuoio, Spanish cuero, Portuguese couro, Catalan cuir and Occitan cuer.^[5][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) quir is the skin of a man: a man must lose et du quir et du peil, skin and hair, for his lord.^[4][9]

Semantic evolution

Old French used it both for human skin and for the hide of an animal (about 1160, cuir de tor).^[4][2] Under the competition of peau it declined after the 17th century for human skin, except in jokes and in cuir chevelu (1800), the scalp;^[2][5] for animals it specialized, about 1170, in the sense of skin tanned and prepared, leather.^[4][2]

Faire un cuir (1783) is a wrong liaison such as dis-moi-t-un peu;^[5][2][10] Bloch and Wartburg call its origin doubtful and suggest the older phrase écorcher un mot “to flay a word”.^[5][2][10] Tanner le cuir à quelqu'un “to give someone a hiding” is found in 1837.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Quir, human skin, in the Chanson de Roland.^[4]
• c. 1160 – Cuir de tor, an animal's hide, in Eneas.^[4]
• c. 1170 – Tanned leather, in Chrétien de Troyes.^[4]
• 1783 – Faire un cuir, a faulty liaison.^[5][2]
• 1800 – Cuir chevelu.^[4]
• 1837 – Tanner le cuir à quelqu'un.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. Leather: the skin of an animal tanned and prepared: cuir de vache, semelles de cuir.^[7][12]
2. A raw hide meant for tanning: commerce de cuirs et peaux.^[13][10]
3. The thick skin of certain animals: le cuir de l'hippopotame.^[13]
4. (dated or humorous) Human skin, cuir chevelu, the scalp, tanner le cuir à quelqu'un, to thrash someone.^[7][10]
5. (familiar) A leather jacket or garment.^[13][2]
6. A wrong liaison, such as an intrusive /t/ or /z/ between words.^[13][1]

Word family

• cuirasse
• cuirasser
• cuirassier
• curée

Related words

• coriace
• excorier
• Latin corium

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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 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. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1185a
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
13. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)