embêter

Forms

embêter^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French en- + bête (“beast; stupid”) + -er.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Bête is from Latin bestia (“beast”),^[6] which Bloch and Wartburg consider a borrowing adapted from the Latin rather than a popular form.^[7]

Littré still gives the sense “to make stupid”,^[8] but Rey notes that the verb soon moved away from the idea of stupidity.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in January 1794, in a municipal deliberation of Passy, meaning “to annoy someone greatly”;^[2][9] the Grand Robert and the GLLF date it to the same year in Hébert's Père Duchesne.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

From the sense “to cause someone great annoyance” it came to mean “to bore” (1820, Stendhal).^[2][9] The pronominal s'embêter “to be bored” is recorded in Flaubert's letters in 1874 and is now usual.^[2][9]

The participles became adjectives: embêté “annoyed” (1831) and “bored” (1842), embêtant “annoying” (1840), with the neuter noun l'embêtant “the annoying thing” (1876).^[2][9] The whole family was familiar, but it is felt as less so since cruder words such as emmerder took over that role.^[9]

Timeline

• 1794 – First recorded, meaning “to annoy greatly”.^[2][9]
• 1820 – Stendhal uses it for “to bore”.^[2][9]
• 1831 – Embêté “annoyed” is used as an adjective.^[2][9]
• 1840 – Embêtant “annoying” is used as an adjective.^[2][9]
• 1842 – Embêtement is recorded in the sense of the state of someone who has troubles.^[9]
• 1874 – The pronominal s'embêter “to be bored” appears.^[2]
• 1901 – Jules Renard uses the derivative embêteur.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (familiar) To bore: Ce film m'embête.^[5][4]
2. (familiar) To annoy, bother, pester: Arrête d'embêter ta sœur.^[5][4][1]
3. (familiar) To trouble, put out: Ce retard m'embête beaucoup.^[5][2]
4. S'embêter: to be bored;^[5][9] s'embêter à cent sous de l'heure, to be bored stiff.^[5][9]

Word family

• embêtement
• embêtant
• embêteur

Related words

• bête
• bêtise
• abêtir
• Latin bestia

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 342b
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ 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