engraisser

Forms

engraisser^[1] Old French engraissier, also encraissier; the spelling engraisser is found from the 14th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French engraissier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *ingrassiō, an altered form of *incrassiō, from Late Latin incrassō (“to fatten, to thicken”), which is formed on Latin crassus (“thick, fat”).^[5][6][2][7] The same change of initial /kr/ to /gr/ is seen in gras.^[5][8] Meyer-Lübke lists the Vulgar Latin verb as meaning “to make fat”.^[9]

Cognate with Italian ingrassare, Spanish engrasar, Catalan engreixar, Portuguese engraixar, Romanian îngrășa and Old Occitan engraissar.^[9][4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis, meaning “to make fat”, of the body.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

From the 13th century the verb was also used of land, “to enrich with manure”: like fattened animals, the soil is meant to yield food.^[3][5] The intransitive use “to grow fat” appeared about 1360, and with it the figurative s'engraisser “to grow rich”, which Boileau used in 1668 of growing rich on the poor.^[3][5]

The sense “to coat with grease” was taken over by graisser, and “to soil with grease”, recorded from the 14th to the 19th century, has also gone.^[3][4] In 1611 the verb was also said of the weather, meaning “to turn bad”.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Engraissier “to make fat” appears in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[5][2]
• Early 13th century – Renclus de Moiliens uses it for fertilizing land.^[5]
• Early 13th century – The noun engraissement is formed.^[3]
• c. 1360 – Intransitive use, “to grow fat”.^[3]
• 1510 – The noun engrais is recorded.^[8]
• 1611 – Used of the weather, “to turn bad”.^[3]
• 1668 – Boileau uses s'engraisser for growing rich.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To fatten animals raised for food: engraisser des canards, engraisser des porcs pour la boucherie.^[10][5][4]
2. (transitive) To enrich land with manure or fertilizer.^[10][2][4]
3. (transitive, figurative) To make someone prosperous or rich.^[2][4]
4. (intransitive) To put on weight, grow fat.^[3]
5. (reflexive, figurative) S'engraisser: to grow rich, especially at the expense of others.^[10][3]
6. (obsolete) To coat or soil with grease.^[5][4]

Word family

• engrais
• rengraisser
• engraissement

Related words

• gras
• graisse
• graisser
• Latin crassus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1282a
8. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert