drôle

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dʁol/^[1]

Forms

drôle (plural drôles)^[1] First drolle (late 15th century) and draule (1549); drôle in Richelet (1680).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Middle Dutch drol (“goblin, little fellow”), figuratively “merry companion”.^[2][3][4][5] Rey calls the Dutch word of unknown origin and finds its link with the Scandinavian Old Norse troll difficult, Wiktionary traces it to Old Norse “troll” and Proto-Germanic *truzlą.^[3][1] Sainéan proposed a native source, Picard “droller”, which the FEW attaches to another etymon, “*tragulare”.^[2]

English droll (1620s) was borrowed from French.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first a noun: in Basselin's Vaux-de-Vire (late 15th century, known from an edition of about 1670) tous les drolles mes compaignons are merry companions.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The noun meant a jolly fellow and a rake (16th century), then a rogue to be wary of (Scarron, 1652) and a contemptible person (1718); these senses have aged.^[2][3] Petit drôle was a sly child (La Fontaine, 1688), and in southern France drôle came to mean a boy, a kid, a use found from 1739 and in southern writers such as Daudet and Mauriac.^[2][3]

As an adjective (1636) it described a person who makes people laugh, then a situation or thing (Molière, 1670).^[2][3] Un drôle de “a strange” is recorded in 1664, and with an intensive value (“a hell of a”) in Eugène Sue (1842–43); tout drôle “funny, odd (in oneself)” is in Baudelaire (1851).^[2][3][8] Rey compares the double sense of English funny.^[3]

Timeline

• Late 15th century – Drolle “merry fellow”, Basselin.^[2]
• 1549 – Draule.^[2]
• 1636 – The adjective “amusing”.^[2]
• 1652 – “Rogue”, Scarron.^[2]
• 1664 – Un drôle de “a strange”.^[2]
• 1739 – Mon drôle “my son”.^[2]
• 1842–43 – Intensive drôle de, Eugène Sue.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. funny, amusing: une histoire drôle.^[1][9]
2. strange, odd: c'est drôle qu'il ne soit pas venu, un drôle de type, se sentir tout drôle.^[1][3]
3. (familiar) Drôle de (intensive): tremendous: un drôle de courage.^[2][3]

Noun

1. (archaic) A rascal, rogue.^[1][9]
2. (southern France) A child, a boy (feminine drôlesse, a girl).^[1][3]

Word family

• drôlement
• drôlerie
• drôlesse
• drolatique

Related words

• English droll

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 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 c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/2, 72a
6. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert