fouler

Forms

fouler^[1] Old French foler;^[2][3] Anglo-Norman also has fuler, foller and fouller.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French foler, inherited from Vulgar Latin *fullō (“to full cloth”), a verb formed on fullō (“fuller”).^[2][4][5][6] The TLFi notes that the Latin verb is found in the glosses.^[2]

Cognate with Italian follare, Old Occitan folar, Catalan folar and Spanish hollar.^[6][7][8] The noun foule “crowd” is a derivative, after the idea of pressing.^[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as foler in the French glosses of Rashi (11th century).^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The verb kept the technical sense “to press by treading or pressing again and again”: fouler le raisin (13th century), fouler du drap (1260), and in printing (1845).^[5][2] In a figurative sense it meant “to crush” wrongdoing (about 1135), then “to oppress” (1160–74), a sense now gone, and “to treat with contempt” (about 1190); fouler aux pieds (1538) has the same image.^[5][9] From the first sense came “to press the ground by walking on it” (1690).^[5][2]

The idea of pressing led to “to damage by pressing” (1600) and to spraining a joint (1549), mostly in the reflexive.^[5] Old French foulé also meant “tired” (1280); se fouler la rate, first “to have a stitch”, came to mean “to take pains”, nearly always in the negative, as in il ne s'est pas foulé la rate (1828, Vidocq).^[5][2]

Timeline

• 11th century – Foler appears in Rashi's glosses.^[2]
• c. 1135 – Used figuratively for “to crush” wrongdoing in the Couronnement de Louis.^[2]
• 1160–74 – Wace uses it for “to trample, to mistreat”.^[2]
• 1260 – Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers uses it of fulling cloth.^[2]
• 1280 – Philippe de Beaumanoir uses foulé for “tired”.^[2]
• 1538 – Fouler aux pieds is recorded by Robert Estienne.^[9]
• 1549 – First used for spraining a joint.^[5]
• 1690 – Furetière records terre foulée.^[2]
• 1842 – Flaubert writes ne pas se fouler la rate.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (technical) To press something repeatedly with the hands, the feet or a tool: to full cloth, to tread grapes, to work leather.^[10][2]
2. (literary) To tread the ground, to walk on it.^[10][1]
3. Fouler aux pieds: to trample on; figuratively, to treat with the utmost contempt.^[10]
4. (dated) To oppress or mistreat.^[1][5]
5. To injure by a sprain;^[10][1] se fouler la cheville, to sprain one's ankle.^[10][1]
6. (familiar, reflexive) Ne pas se fouler: not to take much trouble; also, dated, se fouler la rate.^[10][1]

Word family

• foule
• foulage
• foulée
• foulure
• refouler
• foulant
• fouloir

Related words

• foulon
• Latin fullō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 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 Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 844b
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert