flairer

Forms

flairer^[1] Old French flairier;^[2][1] flairer is a 13th-century remaking.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French flairier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *flāgrō, a dissimilated form of Latin frāgrō (“to give off a strong smell”).^[3][4][2] Bloch and Wartburg add that the change was helped by confusion with flagrō (“to blaze”).^[5] The Latin verb could mean both “to smell sweet” and “to stink”, and the meaning “to scent, sniff” already belongs to Latin times, since Portuguese has it too.^[2][5] It is related to fragrance.^[2]

Cognate with Old Occitan flairar, Catalan flairar and Portuguese cheirar.^[6][5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found at the end of the 12th century, as the participle flairant in the Moniage Guillaume, meaning “to give off a smell”.^[3][2] About 1200 it also meant “to smell with the nose”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to give off a smell” was common until the 15th century and is now archaic, replaced by fleurer.^[5][3] Littré's 13th-century quotations show it of a strong cheese and of fragrant spices.^[7]

The sense “to find out by smell” (1200) gave “to sniff in order to find something” (1636), said especially of hunting dogs.^[2] The figurative sense “to sense, to suspect” dates from 1538.^[2][8]

The noun flair, first “smell” (about 1175), then the sense of smell, is now said of animals and, figuratively, of a gift for guessing.^[2]

Timeline

• late 12th century – Flairant “smelling of” in the Moniage Guillaume.^[3][2]
• c. 1200 – Used for smelling something.^[3][2]
• 1538 – The figurative sense “to sense, to suspect” appears.^[2][8]
• 1539 – The derivative flaireur is recorded.^[5][2]
• 1636 – Recorded for sniffing in search of something.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. Of an animal: to smell something in order to find or recognize it, to scent: le chien flaire la piste.^[8][9][10]
2. Of a person: to smell at something insistently, to sniff.^[8][10]
3. (figurative) To sense something by intuition, to suspect: flairer un piège.^[8][10]
4. (archaic) To give off a smell of.^[3]

Word family

• flair
• flaireur

Related words

• fragrance
• fleurer
• Latin frāgrō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 746a
5. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)