fanfaron

Forms

fanfaron (feminine fanfaronne, masculine plural fanfarons, feminine plural fanfaronnes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish fanfarrón (“braggart”),^{[2][3][4][5][1]} which comes from the same onomatopoeic root as fanfare.^[2] According to Corominas, as cited by the TLFi, the Spanish word is recorded as panfarrón from 1514 and in its present form from 1555.^[2]

Bloch and Wartburg and Rey compare Arabic فَرْفَار (farfār, “chatterer, light-headed, fickle”) and think that the Spanish word may be adapted from it;^[4][3] the TLFi, which mentions the Arabic word as an earlier proposal for the etymon, holds instead that it probably goes back to the same imitative root.^[2] Compare Italian fanfarone, fanfano (“boastful”) and Portuguese fanfarrão.^[6][7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as a noun in 1609, in Mathurin Régnier's eighth satire, for a boastful person;^[2] the GLLF reads Régnier's use as “young gallant”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The derivatives fanfaronnade and fanfaronnerie are recorded as early as 1598, before the noun itself.^[3][4] Corneille (1636) uses fanfaron of a man who plays the brave and boasts of his exploits, and Scarron (1651) of one who brags of his qualities and successes;^[8] fanfaron de followed in 1653, in Guez de Balzac.^[8] The verb fanfaronner dates from 1642 and is now literary.^[3][4]

Littré glossed it as one who sounds a fanfare about himself, an image that ties the word to fanfare.^[7] The sense has stayed stable: someone who boasts of a courage, real or supposed.^[3][9]

Timeline

• 1598 – Fanfaronnade and fanfaronnerie are first recorded.^[3][4]
• 1609 – Mathurin Régnier uses fanfaron as a noun.^[2][3]
• 1636 – Corneille applies it to a man who boasts of his bravery.^[8]
• 1642 – The verb fanfaronner appears.^[3][4]
• 1651 – Scarron uses it of one who boasts of his qualities.^[8]
• 1653 – Fanfaron de appears in Guez de Balzac.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Who boasts excessively of his bravery, real or supposed; showing an affected courage: Il est moins brave que fanfaron.^[9][2]
2. By extension, who brags too much of an exploit or of his merits.^[9][8]

Noun

1. A braggart, someone who boasts of his courage or exploits: faire le fanfaron, to act the brave.^[9][1][7]

Word family

• fanfaronnade
• fanfaronner
• fanfaronnerie

Related words

• fanfare

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert