fêler

Forms

fêler^[1] Old French faeler and faieler (13th century); the past participle fellé in 1423, the infinitive feller in 1483 and fesler, fêler in the 17th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French faeler (“to crack”), inherited from Vulgar Latin *fagellō, altered by dissimilation from Latin flagellō (“to whip, beat”), from flagellum (“whip”), in the explanation that the TLFi and the Petit Robert call probable.^{[4][3][5][6][7]} The cracks in a vessel would have been likened to the marks left on the skin by a whip.^[3][2] The modern form is contracted from the Old French one.^[3][2]

The origin is not settled.^[3] Pierre Guiraud compared it with Italian sfracellare of the same sense and proposed a form Vulgar Latin *fragellō (“to break”), from Latin frangō, with a later loss or change of the /r/ (compare the Norman fléler); he also suggested a link with fêle, a kind of blowpipe, from Latin fistula.^[3][5] Littré, after Diez, cited fissiculō (“to slit”) in Apuleius, but found Grandgagnage's link with faille (“crack”) more likely, on the evidence of the Walloon faieler.^[8] Wiktionary calls it a doublet of flageller.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The past participle faelé, of a wall cracked with fissures, is found in Aucassin et Nicolette (13th century).^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

After this first record the verb is found again only in the 15th century, in the sense it keeps today, to crack a brittle object without its parts coming apart.^[4][3] The figurative sense, of a mind made unsound, is used mostly in the past participle: fêlé is applied to the head or the mind from 1645, and Furetière has tête fêlée in 1690.^[3] In the 20th century fêlé came to mean a person who is a little mad, also as a noun.^[3] The derivative fêlure is recorded as faielure at the end of the 13th century and again about 1560.^[3]

Timeline

• 13th century – Faelé “cracked” in Aucassin et Nicolette.^[4]
• late 13th century – Faielure “crack”.^[3]
• 1423 – The past participle fellé.^[3][5]
• 1483 – Feller in an inventory of the goods of Charlotte of Savoy.^[4]
• 1645 – Fêlé is said of the mind.^[3]
• 1690 – Furetière records tête fêlée.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To crack (a brittle object) without the pieces coming apart: fêler un verre.^[4][6][8]
2. (reflexive) Se fêler: to crack: la tasse s'est fêlée dans le four.^[6][8][1]
3. (figurative) In the past participle fêlé: slightly mad, cracked, as in tête fêlée; as a noun, des fêlés, a crackpot.^[3][8]

Word family

• fêlure

Related words

• flageller
• fléau
• Latin flagellum

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 595a
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette