escrime

Forms

escrime f (uncountable)^[1] Old French escremie, the native word it replaced.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian scrima (“art of swordsmanship”), recorded in Italian from the 15th century; the Italian word came from Old Occitan escrima.^[4][3][5] The TLFi describes the French word rather as a remodelling, after the Italian, of Old French escremie (“combat”) (12th century).^[2] That noun was the deverbal of escremir (“to fight”) (1080), from Frankish *skirmjan (“to defend, protect”), whose German cognate is schirmen (“to protect”).^[2][4][3][6]

The word thus came back to French by a roundabout path: Old Occitan escremir, escrimir “to fence” and Spanish esgrimir were themselves taken from French, and the Occitan noun was passed on to Italian.^[2][4][3] The Italian form won because the art of swordsmanship, codified in Italy, spread through Europe from there;^[3][4] Montaigne still wrote that the French went to Italy to learn to fence.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1409, in the chronicle of Marshal Boucicaut, in the sense “combat”: si dure escrime leur livrerent “they gave them so hard a fight”.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The older word escremie was still common at the start of the 16th century, and escrime displaced it as Italian fencing spread.^[3][4] In 1534 Rabelais used it for the art of handling a sword, in à la vieille escrime “in the old style of fencing”.^[2][4]

Figuratively it came to mean a duel or close contest, especially one of words and wit;^[4][8] the old phrase être hors d'escrime meant “to have run out of arguments” (1690).^[4] As the sword gave way to the exercise and then to sport in the 19th and 20th centuries, the word came to name a sport with its rules, championships and three weapons.^[4] The derivative escrimeur appears at the end of the 15th century, and the verb escrimer, first used in 1534 as s'escrymer “to struggle hard”, keeps mostly that figurative sense.^[4][3]

Timeline

• 12th century – Old French escremie “combat” is recorded.^[2][4]
• 1409 – First record of escrime, “combat”, in the chronicle of Boucicaut.^[2][4]
• late 15th century – The derivative escrimeur appears.^[4]
• 1534 – Rabelais uses it for the art of swordsmanship.^[2][4]
• 1606 – Maître d'escrime is first recorded.^[4]
• 1690 – Être hors d'escrime “to be out of arguments” is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Fencing: the art and sport of fighting with a sword, foil or sabre, and the practice by which it is learned: un maître d'escrime.^[9][2][1]
2. (figurative) A close contest between two opponents, a sharp exchange of arguments.^[8][2]

Word family

• escrimer
• escrimeur

Related words

• Frankish *skirmjan

Usage notes

Maître d'escrime (1606) is less common than maître d'armes “fencing master”.^[4]

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 d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 118b
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert