dessécher

Forms

dessécher^[1] Old French desechier (about 1170) and desekier;^[2][3] dessécher is a 16th-century form.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French dé- + sécher, with the prefix in an intensive sense.^[4][3][5][6] Rey notes that Medieval Latin had dessicare (8th century) and dissicare (9th century) in the same sense, from which the verb may come, and Wiktionary derives it from Latin dēsiccō.^[2][1] In the sense “to lose one's thinness” (1215), Rey sees a French compound with the negative prefix des-.^[2] sécher is from Latin siccō, from siccus (“dry”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1170 in the Old French Livre des Rois, as intransitive desechier “to dry up, to evaporate”, said of water.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The transitive sense “to make dry” appears in the 13th century, in Aldebrandin of Siena's Régime du corps.^[4][7] From the 13th century the verb also meant “to make thin”, and then, intransitively, “to grow thin” (mid-14th century).^[2][4] It was said of a tree in the 14th century and, in medicine, of drying something further (1559).^[2]

The abstract sense “to make unfeeling”, used of the heart, dates from 1553, and dessécher l'esprit, l'imagination from 1680.^[2][4] The reflexive se dessécher is recorded from 1553, and figuratively “to grow thin” from 1672.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – Desechier “to dry up” in the Livre des Rois.^[4][2]
• 13th century – The transitive sense “to make dry”.^[4]
• 1240–1280 – Baudouin and Jean de Condé use it for growing or making thin.^[4]
• 1534 – The derivative desséchement is recorded.^[5]
• 1553 – A Bible translation uses it for making the heart unfeeling.^[4][2]
• 1559 – Medical use for drying.^[2]
• 1680 – Dessécher l'esprit is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make dry something that naturally holds water, to dry out: le soleil dessèche les blés.^[8][4]
2. To drain, to put dry (a pond, a marsh).^[4][7]
3. To make thin and gaunt, to emaciate.^[8][7]
4. (figurative) To make unfeeling, to harden (the heart, the mind).^[8][7]
5. (reflexive) To become dry, to wither; to grow thin; to become hard and unfeeling.^[8][7]

Word family

• desséchement

Related words

• dessiccation
• sécher
• sec
• assécher

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 l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c 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 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 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. 11, 582a
7. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert