empaler

Forms

empaler^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Old French en- + pal + -er, from the noun pal “stake”, which is from Latin pālus (“stake”).^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} Wiktionary instead takes it as inherited from a Late Latin impālō, itself from the same Latin noun.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1265 in Rutebeuf, in the sense “to put between posts”, which has disappeared; in the third quarter of the 13th century the Roman d'Alexandre uses it for “to pierce with a stake”.^[2][5][3] The GLLF dates the Roman d'Alexandre to the late 12th century and glosses its use as “to fix severed heads on stakes”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In the older language the verb meant only to pierce with a stake or another weapon, as in Froissart, about 1360, who uses it of English archers shooting men and horses through.^[9][8] The sense “to inflict the punishment of the stake” is recorded in 1515;^[2][5] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF date it from Rabelais in 1534.^[6][8] By extension it came to mean to pierce right through the body of an animal (1772, Rousseau), and the pronominal s'empaler to fall onto a pointed object.^[8][5][9]

The noun empalement is recorded in 1584.^[2][5] Empaleur is found before 1661, then rarely until Coppée applied it to the Romanian count Drakul, the model of the vampire Dracula.^[5][2]

Timeline

• c. 1265 – Rutebeuf uses it for “to put between posts”.^[2][3]
• 3rd quarter of the 13th century – The Roman d'Alexandre uses it for “to pierce with a stake”.^[2]
• c. 1360 – Froissart uses it for piercing with a weapon.^[8]
• 1515 – First record of the sense “to impale as a punishment”.^[2][5]
• 1534 – Rabelais uses it in this sense.^[6][8]
• 1584 – The noun empalement is recorded.^[2][5]
• Before 1661 – Saint-Amant uses empaleur.^[2]
• 1772 – Rousseau uses it of piercing an animal.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To impale: to put someone to death on a pal, a stake driven through the body.^[4][2][9]
2. By extension, to pierce right through, to skewer, as in les cailles étaient empalées sur une broche.^[4][2][8]
3. S’empaler: to fall onto a pointed object that pierces the body, as in il s’est empalé sur un piquet.^[4][9][5]

Word family

• empalement
• empaleur

Related words

• pal
• Latin pālus

References

1. ^ a b c 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 c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 528b
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette