emboire

Forms

emboire^[1] Old French embeivre.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin imbibō (“to absorb, to become soaked with”),^[3][4][1][5] formed from in-, here intensive, and bibō (“to drink”).^[3][4] It is a doublet of imbiber, which was borrowed from Latin.^[1][4]

Cognate with Old Occitan embeure, Spanish embeber and Italian imbevere.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it about 1165 in the Roman de Troie, in the sense “to soak”, there figuratively “to intoxicate, to beguile”.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The verb kept the general sense “to soak, impregnate”; the past participle embu meant “drunk” about 1170 and “soaked” from about 1280, as in yeux embus de larmes.^[4] In the 16th century Rabelais and Calvin use embu of people steeped in customs or beliefs.^[6]

In 1676 Félibien records the reflexive s'emboire as a painters' term: colours with too much oil grow dull because the canvas or panel drinks the oil.^[3][4] Founders and sculptors also emboivent a plaster mould, rubbing it with oil or melted wax so that the cast does not stick.^[3][6]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it figuratively, “to intoxicate”.^[3]
• c. 1170 – Embu “drunk” is recorded.^[4]
• c. 1460 – Georges Chastellain writes emboire “to absorb a liquid”.^[2]
• 1676 – Félibien's dictionary records s'emboire and embu in painting.^[3]
• 1838 – The noun embu “dull patch on a painting” appears.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (technical) To impregnate or coat with a liquid; in sculpture and founding, to rub a plaster mould with oil or melted wax.^[3][6]
2. (painting, reflexive) Of a painting or its colours, to become dull as the support absorbs the oil.^[3][2][1]

Related words

• imbiber
• boire
• imbu
• Latin imbibō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 567b
6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette