flatter

Forms

flatter^[1] Old French flater.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French flater, formed from Frankish *flat (“flat”) with the verb ending -er.^[2][4][5] Rey gives the Frankish source as a verb *flatjan (“to pass the flat of the hand over”), itself from the noun.^[3] The starting point is thus the gesture of stroking with the flat of the hand, which can be a caress.^[6][4] The Petit Robert calls the Frankish origin only possible.^[7]

Old French also had flatir (“to throw flat, cast down”) (about 1155), from the same Frankish word.^[3][6][8] Bloch and Wartburg compare Old Occitan aflatar (“to press against”).^[4] The Frankish word goes back to Proto-Germanic *flatą, and is cognate with Old High German flaz (“level, flat”), flazza (“palm of the hand”), Old Norse flatr (“flat”) and the English word flat.^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in Chrétien de Troyes's Guillaume d'Angleterre (about 1165), is figurative: flater meant to try to deceive someone by disguising the truth.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The moral sense came early, as Bloch and Wartburg note.^[4] From the idea of deceiving, the verb passed about 1200 to praising someone too much in order to please or win them over,^[2][3] and then to making a person or thing look better than it is (1667, Molière), as a portrait may.^[2][3] The reflexive se flatter meant to delude oneself (before 1559) and later to take pride in something (1661),^[3] and flatter quelqu'un de quelque chose “to give someone false hope of something” is found in Racine (1669).^[2][3]

The concrete sense “to stroke with the flat of the hand”, the image behind the word, is recorded only from the 15th century, of an animal.^[2][3] It led to “to handle gently” (1532, Rabelais's flater le dez, of a gambler throwing dice softly), now obsolete.^[2][3] With a thing as subject, the verb came to mean to please the senses (1631) and to give keen satisfaction or pride (1643, Corneille).^[2][9] The derivatives flatterie and flatteur are used only of praise, never of caresses.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – Flater “to deceive by hiding the truth” appears in Chrétien de Troyes's Guillaume d'Angleterre.^[2]
• c. 1200 – The sense “to praise excessively” is found in the Châtelain de Coucy.^[2][10]
• 1265 – The derivative flatterie is recorded.^[3]
• 15th century – It is used of stroking an animal with the hand.^[2][3]
• 1532 – Rabelais writes flater le dez “throw the dice gently”.^[2][10]
• 1631 – Rotrou uses it of pleasing the senses.^[2][9]
• 1643 – Corneille uses it for giving satisfaction or pride.^[2]
• 1667 – Molière uses it of making someone look better than they are.^[2][3]
• 1669 – Racine has flatter quelqu'un de quelque chose “to give false hope”.^[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To flatter: to praise someone too much or insincerely, to please or win them over: il flatte toujours son directeur.^[7][11]
2. (literary) Flatter quelqu'un de quelque chose: to give someone false hope of something.^[11][2]
3. To stroke or pet with the hand: flatter un chat.^[11][10]
4. (of a thing) To please, to make proud: ce compliment me flatte.^[11][2]
5. To make someone or something look better than in reality: cette photo la flatte.^[11][2]
6. Se flatter de: to pride oneself on, to claim: il se flatte de parler six langues.^[7][3]

Word family

• flatterie
• flatteur
• flatteusement

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t 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 i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/2, 139b
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)