Etymologically
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fatigue

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /fa.tiɡ/[1]

Forms

fatigue f (plural fatigues)[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from fatiguer.[2][3][1] The verb was borrowed in the early 14th century from Latin fatīgō (“to tire out”),[4][5] which first meant “to drive an animal to collapse”;[5] Rey derives it probably from the noun fatis (“crack, cleft”) in the phrase ad fatim, which became the adverb affatim (“to bursting; abundantly”).[5] Etymonline gives a pre-Latin compound whose second part is the root of agō (“to drive”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in the early 14th century in Aimé's Ystoire de li Normant, means the action of tiring and its result.[2]

Semantic evolution

From 1555 (Étienne Pasquier) it also named what causes weariness, hard and toilsome work; the plural les fatigues (of a journey, of war) keeps this sense, as do homme de fatigue and cheval de fatigue for a man or horse fit for heavy work.[2][7][8] In classical French it could mean annoyance or tedium, as in Molière's la grande fatigue que d'avoir une femme (1666).[7][8] In the 20th century it was applied to the weakening of materials under repeated stress and, in agriculture, to the falling fertility of a soil.[7][9]

English took fatigue in the 1660s for what causes weariness; the feeling itself is recorded in English from 1719, and the labours of soldiers from 1776.[6]

Timeline

  • early 14th century – Fatiguer is borrowed from Latin and fatigue first appears.[5][2]
  • 1555 – Pasquier uses it for toilsome work.[2]
  • 1611 – Cotgrave records the sense “hard labour”.[7]
  • 1660s – English borrows the word.[6]
  • 1666 – Molière uses it for annoyance.[7]
  • 20th century – Used for the fatigue of materials.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Tiredness, the state that follows excessive effort and lessens one's strength: tomber de fatigue.[8][9]
  2. (chiefly plural) What causes this state; hard work, exertion: les fatigues du voyage.[8][9]
  3. (dated) Annoyance, weariness.[8]
  4. (materials) The weakening of a material under repeated stress, which may make it break.[9]
  5. (agriculture) Loss of fertility of a soil.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)