dépiler

dépiler¹ to depilate

Etymology tree of dépiler¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin pīlus

Aromanian per

French poil

Italian pelo

Romanian păr

Spanish pelo

Latin pilō

French peler

Italian pelare

Spanish pelar

English peel

Latin dēpilō

Italian dipelare

Romanian dăpăra

French dépiler

From the same root · dépiler¹

Latin pīla ← pīlus

Latin pilōsus ← pīlus

Romanian păros ← păr

Pronunciation

• /de.pi.le/^[3]

Forms

dépiler^[3]

Etymology

The word for “to depilate” is borrowed from Latin dēpilō (“to pluck, strip, depilate”), first recorded as despiler in 1538.^[4][1][2][5] In classical Latin it meant “to pluck, to strip”, and in Late Latin “to depilate”; it is formed from dē- and pilus (“hair”), the source of poil.^[4][1] Littré gives Occitan depilar beside it.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The form despiler is recorded in 1538.^[4][1] Bloch and Wartburg and the Grand Larousse date it to Paré in the 16th century, who wrote of les parties hautes de la teste depilées “the upper parts of the head bared of hair”.^[5][7][6]

Semantic evolution

Rey notes that dépiler differs from épiler, which implies removing hair on purpose.^[4] In tanning it came to mean removing the hair from a hide, recorded in 1802.^[7] Dépilation (1370) and dépilatoire (1390) were formed on the stem of the Latin supine depilatum, not on the French verb.^[4]

Timeline

• 1538 – Despiler is recorded.^[4][1]
• 16th century – Paré uses the verb.^[5][6]
• 1802 – The tanning sense is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (medicine, dated) To cause the hair to fall out: ce traitement l'a dépilé.^[2][8][7]
2. (technical) To remove the hair from a hide by scraping it with a round knife before tanning.^[2][7]
3. Se dépiler: of an animal, to lose its hair.^[6]

dépiler² to remove the pillars of a mine

Pronunciation

• /de.pi.le/^[3]

Forms

dépiler^[3]

Etymology

The mining word is formed from French dé- + pile, in the sense “pillar”, with the verb ending -er.^{[9][1][2][10]} The TLFi takes the early uses as an opposite formed on empiler.^[9] That noun goes back to Latin pīla (“pillar”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1306 Guillaume Guiart's Royaux Lignages has sei despiler “to leave a group, to break ranks”.^[9][1]

Semantic evolution

About 1350 Gilles le Muisit used despiler for taking down piles of goods; the TLFi treats both medieval uses as isolated.^[9][7] The modern sense of mining, removing the pillars left in a seam, is recorded in 1816 in the Annales des mines, together with the noun dépilement.^[9][2] The Grand Larousse dates it only to Larousse in 1870, and adds the extended sense “to work a mine”.^[7][11]

Timeline

• 1306 – Sei despiler “to break ranks” in Guiart.^[9]
• c. 1350 – Gilles le Muisit uses despiler of piles of goods.^[9][7]
• 1816 – The mining sense is recorded in the Annales des mines.^[9][2]
• 1864 – Littré records dépilage.^[9]
• 1870 – Larousse records the mining sense.^[7][11]

Meanings

Verb

1. (mining) To cut down the piliers of coal or ore left to hold up the roof of a working, once the working is given up: les mineurs ont dépilé le quartier avant de l'abandonner.^[9][2][8]
2. (mining) By extension, to work a mine.^[7]
3. To take down a pile of wood.^[7]

Word family

• dépilage
• dépilement