forger

Forms

forger^[1] Old French forgier, forjer; the forms favrechier and favargier are also found.^[2][3][4] The present spelling forger dates from the 13th century.^[2][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French forgier, inherited from Latin fabricō (“to shape, make, forge”).^[6][7][2][8] Latin used the verb especially of forging, in the literal and the figurative sense.^[6] The Latin verb comes from fabrica (“craft, workshop”), from faber (“workman, smith”).^[9][5] It is a doublet of the learned fabriquer.^[1][9]

Cognate with Walloon fôrgî, Occitan fargar, Spanish forjar and Portuguese forjar.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in the Oxford Psalter of about 1120, is tu forjas l'albe e le soleil “thou hast made the dawn and the sun”, in the sense of to create; the Cambridge Psalter has it for to imagine or invent.^[6][10][2]

Semantic evolution

The verb became specialized for working metal with fire and hammer and for making a metal object, a sense found from about 1130 and in the Roman d'Eneas (1160).^[2][6] The early sense of to create has gone, while forger stays literary for to imagine or invent, usually with the idea of effort and often, since 1580, with that of deceit.^[2][5] Figuratively it also means to form something lasting, such as a character, and forger ses fers is to bring about one's own servitude.^[5][10]

The proverb c'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron, first à forger on devient forgeron (late 16th century), renders the Late Latin fabricando fit faber.^[2][9] Of a horse, forger is to strike the hind shoes against the fore shoes when trotting (1678).^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – Forjas “made, created” in the Oxford Psalter.^[6][2]
• c. 1130 – First used of working metal.^[2]
• 1160 – Forgier “to work metal” in the Roman d'Eneas.^[6]
• 13th century – The spelling forger appears.^[2]
• 1580 – Montaigne uses it for inventing, with the idea of deceit.^[5][2]
• late 16th century – The proverb à forger on devient forgeron.^[2]
• 1678 – Used of a horse that strikes its shoes together.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To work a metal hot, with the hammer or press, to shape it: fer forgé “wrought iron”.^[9][11]
2. To make a metal object at the forge: forger un fer à cheval.^[9][10]
3. (figurative) To form or build up with effort: Les épreuves forgent le caractère.^[11][5]
4. (figurative) To make up, invent, or coin a word or expression: Il a forgé un mot nouveau.^[5][1]
5. To invent, often in order to deceive, or to falsify: Elle forgea une excuse.^[5][1]
6. (equestrianism, intransitive) Of a trotting horse, to strike the hind shoes against the fore shoes.^[5][1]

Word family

• forgeron
• forgeable
• forgeage
• forgerie
• forgeur
• reforger

Related words

• forge
• fabriquer
• Latin fabricō

Usage notes

Forgeron replaced the Old French fèvre “smith”, from Latin faber, which survives in surnames such as Lefèvre and in orfèvre.^[7][9][2] Forgerie “forgery of a document” (1865) is an anglicism after English forgery.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f 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
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 343b
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)