farce

Forms

farce f (plural farces)^[1] Old French farse.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French farse, inherited from Vulgar Latin *farsa,^[2][3][4][1] the feminine used as a noun of Late Latin farsus (“stuffed”), a late past participle of farciō (“to fatten, to stuff”) in place of classical fartus or farsitus.^[5][6][4] The TLFi and Rey describe it as the noun use of the feminine of Old French fars (“stuffed”) (about 1200).^[5][6]

The theatrical sense is a figurative use of the culinary one: Medieval Latin farsa named the passages in the vernacular inserted into church services, like stuffing in meat, and these interludes, once separated from the liturgy, were at the root of medieval comic theatre.^[5][6][2][4] Littré thought rather of a mixed and pleasant thing, a play “stuffed” with various subjects.^[7] The sense “trick, joke” goes with the Old French verb farser (“to mock”) (13th century).^[5][6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the 13th century, in a fabliau, for the stuffing of a dish: Si que la crouste en est faussée, Et la farce s'en est volée (“so that the crust was broken and the stuffing flew out”).^[7][4][6] The TLFi's first record is from the early 14th century, in the Bataille de Karesme et de Charnage.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century Medieval Latin farsa named a paraphrase or performance in the vernacular inserted into religious ceremonies.^[5][6] French farce took the sense of an amusing story illustrating a point (about 1370, the Lamentations de Matheolus) and of a short comic play (1448),^[5][6] first played as an interlude in the mystery plays.^[2][4] By the 16th century it also meant real events that unfold like a farce.^[6][8]

The sense “trick, practical joke” is recorded in 1330 and came back into use in the 19th century;^[5][6] the word then also named the objects used for pranks.^[6] As an adjective, farce “funny” was fashionable throughout the 19th century (il est farce); the TLFi dates it to 1801, Rey to 1784 (Bachaumont).^[5][6]

English took farce “stuffing” in the late 14th century and the dramatic sense in the 1520s.^[9]

Timeline

• 13th century – A fabliau uses farce for stuffing.^[7][4][6]
• 13th century – Medieval Latin farsa names vernacular insertions in church services.^[5][6]
• 1330 – Farce “trick, joke” appears in a life of Saint Alexis.^[5][6]
• c. 1370 – It names an amusing tale.^[5][6]
• 1448 – First recorded of a short comic play.^[5][6]
• c. 1450 – The derivative farceur appears.^[2][6]
• 1520s – English borrows the dramatic sense.^[9]
• 1784 – Bachaumont uses farce as an adjective.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (cooking) stuffing, forcemeat: chopped meat, herbs or vegetables used to stuff poultry, fish or vegetables.^[8][10][4]
2. A farce, a short popular comic play full of broad stage business, as La Farce de maître Pathelin; also the genre and its coarse comedy.^[8][10][4]
3. Real events that unfold like a farce, that cannot be taken seriously.^[8][4]
4. A prank, a practical joke: faire une farce.^[8][10]
5. Le dindon de la farce: the dupe, the one who pays for the joke.^[8][1]

Adjective

1. (dated, familiar) Funny, comical.^[5][6][8]

Word family

• farceur

Related words

• farcir
• Latin farciō

Usage notes

The Grand Robert and Littré number the culinary and the theatrical farce as two headwords, but both, like the TLFi, derive the second from the first.^[3][7][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)