effleurer

Forms

effleurer^[1] Old French past participle esflourée, esfloré (before 1236).^[2][3] Montaigne wrote efflorer.^[4]

Etymology

It is formed from French é- + fleur + -er.^[2][5][6][7] The prefix, Old French es- from Latin ex-, has a privative value: the verb first meant to take the flowers off a plant.^[3][4][8] The sense “to graze the surface” comes from fleur in its sense “surface, upper layer”, as in à fleur de “level with”.^[8][9] That noun is from Latin flōs (“flower”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found before 1236 in Gautier de Coinci, as the past participle esflourée, said of a woman who has lost her freshness and beauty.^[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

The infinitive effleurer appears in 1549, in Robert Estienne's dictionary, for “to strip of its flowers”, a sense now obsolete.^[2][8][3] In Middle French it could also mean “to dust with flour”, of a fish to be fried (about 1393).^[10]

From the surface sense of fleur came “to touch lightly” (1578), “to examine superficially” and “to cut into slightly” (both in Cotgrave, 1611), and figuratively “to hurt slightly, to cast a slight slur on” (La Bruyère, 1693).^[2][8] Of a thought, “to cross one's mind” is recorded before 1704.^[2] In tanning, effleurer une peau is to shave a very thin layer off the grain side of a hide (1723).^[2][6][3]

The noun effleurement dates from 1578.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1236 – Gautier de Coinci uses the participle esflourée “faded”.^[2][3]
• c. 1393 – The Ménagier de Paris uses it for dusting with flour.^[10]
• 1549 – Robert Estienne records effleurer “to strip of flowers”.^[2][3]
• 1578 – First used for “to touch lightly”.^[2][8][6]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records “to examine superficially” and “to cut into slightly”.^[2][3]
• 1693 – La Bruyère uses it for “to cast a slight slur on”.^[2][8]
• 1723 – Savary des Bruslons records the tanning sense.^[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To graze, to cut into only the surface of: la balle lui a effleuré l'épaule.^[6][11][2]
2. To touch lightly, to brush against: effleurer la joue de quelqu'un du bout des doigts.^[6][12]
3. (figurative) To touch on (a subject) only briefly, to skim over: il n'a fait qu'effleurer la question.^[12][6][4]
4. (of a thought) To cross the mind of: le doute ne l'avait même pas effleurée.^[12][2]
5. (tanning) To shave a very thin layer off the grain side of (a hide).^[6][4][2]
6. (obsolete, horticulture) To strip (a plant) of its flowers.^[2][4][3]

Word family

• effleurement

Related words

• fleur
• affleurer
• déflorer

References

1. ^ a b 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 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 631a
8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
12. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)