enduire

Forms

enduire^[1] Old French anduire and enduire.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French anduire, inherited from Latin indūcō (“to lead in, to apply”).^[2][4][5][3] The Latin verb is formed from in- and dūcō (“to lead”), of the family of dux (“leader”);^[3] it was already used for applying a coating, as when Plautus speaks of coating with pitch.^[5] Littré explains the sense as going from “lead into” to “lead over”, that is to cover.^[6] The learned induire is its doublet.^[1]

In the sense of coating the word is only Gallo-Romance, as in Old Occitan enduch (“coating”); in the sense “to introduce” compare Old Occitan enduire and Italian indurre.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as anduire about 1175 in Chrétien de Troyes's Perceval, meaning to apply a coating to a surface.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Old French it also meant to incite someone, a sense later taken by induire,^[3][5] and in falconry (about 1200, l'Escoufle) to digest, of a bird of prey; this use lived on in the 16th century and dictionaries record it until the late 19th.^[2][3][6] From the 17th century the subject can be the coating itself, as in La Fontaine (1668).^[3][7] The past participle became the noun enduit about 1165.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – Anduire “to apply a coating” appears in Chrétien de Troyes's Perceval.^[2]
• c. 1200 – L'Escoufle uses it in falconry for digesting.^[2][6]
• 1668 – La Fontaine makes the coating substance its subject.^[7][3]
• 1927 – The derivative enduisage is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To coat a surface with a soft substance that spreads over it: enduire un mur de badigeon.^[8][2]
2. Of the substance itself, to cover a surface as a layer.^[7]
3. S'enduire: to smear or rub oneself with something, such as oil or cream.^[8][6][1]
4. (falconry, obsolete) Of a bird of prey, to digest its food.^[2][6]

Word family

• enduit
• enduisage
• enduiseur

Related words

• renduire
• induire
• conduire
• Latin indūcō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 651a
5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert