Etymologically
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fouiller

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /fu.je/[1]

Forms

fouiller[1] Old French fooillier, fuullier;[2][3][4] fouiller from the 16th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French fooillier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *fodiculō, a derivative of classical fodicō (“to pierce; to dig”), from fodiō (“to dig”) (see fouir).[5][2][6][1][7] Littré compares Occitan fozilhar.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Péan Gatineau's Vie de saint Martin (about 1250) uses it of animals digging the ground;[5][2][4] Beaumanoir (1283) forbids pigs in meadows because they spoil them by rooting.[5][2][4]

Semantic evolution

Amyot (1559) has it for searching everywhere, for searching a person, and for digging up royal tombs to rob them.[5][4][3] Montaigne (1580) uses it figuratively, “to study in depth”, and Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (1784) has fouiller les bibliothèques.[2][3] In sculpture it means to hollow out stone to give more relief (1704).[2][3]

Se fouiller “to go through one's pockets” is from before 1709, and the jeering tu peux te fouiller ! “you can whistle for it” is noted in 1869.[2][8] The deverbal fouille (1578) gave les fouilles, archaeological excavations (1811).[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1250 – Of animals digging, in Péan Gatineau.[5]
  • 1283 – Of pigs rooting, in Beaumanoir.[4][6]
  • 1559 – “To search”, in Amyot.[5]
  • 1580 – “To study in depth”, in Montaigne.[2]
  • 1704 – In sculpture.[2]
  • 1784 – Fouiller les bibliothèques.[3]
  • 1869 – Tu peux te fouiller.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To dig, excavate (ground), especially to find what is buried: fouiller l'emplacement d'une ville disparue.[9][10]
  2. To search (a place, a thing) thoroughly: la police a fouillé la maison.[9][11]
  3. To search, frisk (a person).[1][9]
  4. (intransitive) To rummage: fouiller dans sa poche.[1][9]
  5. To go deeply into (a subject): fouiller une question; of an artist, to work in fine detail.[1][3]
  6. Se fouiller: to go through one's pockets, tu peux te fouiller !, you can whistle for it![2][8]

Word family

  • fouille
  • fouillis
  • farfouiller
  • trifouiller

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 666a
  8. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)