Etymologically
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embrasser

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑ̃.bʁa.se/[1]

Forms

embrasser[1] Old French embracier, embrasser from about 1360 (Froissart).[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French embracier, formed in Old French from French en- + bras + -er.[3][2][1][4][5] Bras is from Latin bracchium (“arm”).[4]

Cognate with Old Occitan embrassar and Italian imbracciare.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) Roland holds Oliver to his breast, contre son piz puis si l'ad embracet, and Charlemagne embraces his horse's neck: to hold in one's arms.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

About 1130 it meant to seize, take on, whence the later sense of adopting a cause, a career or a religion.[3] In Montaigne (1580) it means to contain, include, and in Pascal to take in with the eye or the mind (embrasser du regard).[3][7]

The sense “to kiss”, without taking in one's arms, was still noted as a neologism by Hatzfeld at the end of the 19th century, and it has become the ordinary one.[8][1]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Embracet, Chanson de Roland.[3]
  • c. 1130 – “To take on”.[3]
  • c. 1360 – The spelling embrasser, Froissart.[2]
  • 1580 – “To contain”, Montaigne.[3]
  • Late 19th century – “To kiss”, still a neologism for Hatzfeld.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To kiss: embrasser quelqu'un sur la joue, je t'embrasse (at the end of a letter).[1][9]
  2. (dated) To hug, embrace, hold in one's arms.[1][9]
  3. To take up, adopt: embrasser une carrière, une religion, une cause.[3]
  4. To include, take in: embrasser d'un coup d'œil.[3][9]

Word family

  • embrassade
  • embrassement
  • embrasse

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 487b
  6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert