doubler

Forms

doubler^[1] Old French dobler, deubler;^[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman also dubler.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French dobler, inherited from Late Latin duplō (“to make double”), from duplus (“double”).^[2][5][6][7] Littré instead derived it from duplicō, a view the later dictionaries do not follow.^[8][2]

Cognate with Italian doppiare, Spanish doblar, Catalan doblar and Portuguese dobrar.^[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first sense, in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), is “to line” a garment, to furnish it with a lining.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

From the 12th century it also meant “to fold, put in two thicknesses” (about 1135) and above all “to multiply by two” (1160–1170), with the intransitive “to become double” in Chrétien de Troyes.^[2][5] An old sense “to increase” went out of use, partly replaced by redoubler.^[5] The lining sense spread to goldsmith's work in 1517.^[2][5]

Sailors used it from 1529 of rounding a cape or an island; only in the 19th century did it come to mean overtaking another ship (1845) and then another vehicle (1900).^[2][5] In thieves' slang it meant “to steal” (1628) and soon “to deceive” (1670).^[2]

In the theatre, doubler un rôle (1718) was to have two actors learn the same part, and doubler un acteur (1752) to stand in for one; from this the cinema took doubler un film “to dub” (1929).^[2] Balzac used the participle for “accompanied by, also being” (1843, 1847).^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – “To line (a garment)” in the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• c. 1135 – “To fold, put double” in the Charroi de Nîmes.^[2]
• 1160–1170 – “To multiply by two” in Wace.^[2]
• 1529 – “To round (a cape)” in a sailor's journal.^[2][5]
• 1628 – Slang “to steal”.^[2]
• 1718 – Doubler un rôle in the Académie's dictionary.^[2]
• 1845 – “To overtake (a ship)”.^[2]
• 1900 – “To overtake (a vehicle)”.^[2]
• 1929 – Doubler un film “to dub a film”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To double, multiply by two: doubler son salaire.^[9][2]
2. To fold in two or put in two layers: doubler une feuille de papier.^[10]
3. To line a garment or object with a lining.^[2][1]
4. To overtake or pass a vehicle, or to round a cape at sea.^[2][1]
5. To stand in for an actor, or to dub a film into another language.^[2][1]
6. (Belgium) To repeat a school year.^[1][11]
7. (familiar) To double-cross, deceive.^[1][2]
8. (intransitive) To become twice as large: les prix ont doublé.^[2][9]

Word family

• doublage
• doublement
• redoubler
• dédoubler
• doublé
• doublet
• doublure

Related words

• dupliquer
• double

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 g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 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
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 183a
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF