fourrer

Forms

fourrer^[1] Old French forrer (about 1165), remade as fourrer in the 13th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Old French fuerre (“sheath, scabbard”) + -er.^{[3][4][2][5][6][1][7]} The noun is from Proto-Germanic *fōdrą (“sheath”), a Germanic form inferred from Gothic and Old High German fōtar (“case”);^[3][4][1] compare German Futter, Futteral (“case”) and Italian fodero.^[4][8] The verb thus first meant to give something a lining or covering, and later to put something into a sheath.^[9][2]

Guiraud thought the verb also took in the Old French word for straw (compare fourrage), so that it would have meant to stuff with straw;^[2][5] Rey notes that this assumes one Old French noun for both sheath and straw.^[2][5] Littré gives Old Occitan folrar, Spanish forrar and Italian foderare beside it.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1165 as forrer in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie, meaning to line or trim a garment with fur.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

From lining a garment with fur came se fourrer “to dress warmly” (late 14th century, now obsolete), and by analogy the sense of filling something inside, in cooking from 1228 (fourré of pastry filled with jam or stuffing), and of covering it outside, in goldsmith's work from 1464, of base metal coated with a thin layer of gold.^[3][2] In 1691 it was used for wrapping a rope with tarred strips to protect it.^[3]

A second group of senses comes from the idea of putting in as into a sheath: se fourrer “to get into a place” (1419–1422) and fourrer “to push in” (1480).^[3][2] From 1580 it meant to put something in carelessly, which gave ne pas savoir où se fourrer and fourrer son nez partout (1690), se fourrer le doigt dans l'œil (1880) and s'en fourrer jusque-là (1932).^[2][10] From the late 17th century it has also had a vulgar sexual sense.^[2][1]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – Forrer “line with fur” appears in the Roman de Troie.^[3][2]
• 1228 – Jean Renart uses fourré of food filled inside.^[3][2]
• 1419–1422 – Chastellain uses se fourrer “to get into”.^[3][2]
• 1464 – Maistre Pierre Pathelin uses it in goldsmith's work.^[3][10]
• 1480 – Coquillart uses fourrer “to push in”.^[3]
• 1580 – Montaigne uses it for putting something in carelessly.^[10][2]
• 1690 – Furetière records fourrer son nez “to poke one's nose in”.^[10][2]
• 1880 – Zola writes se fourrer le doigt dans l'œil.^[10][2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To line (a garment) with fur: fourrer une veste de mouton.^[6][11]
2. To fill (a pastry or sweet) inside: fourrer des choux à la crème.^[6][1]
3. (familiar) To stuff, shove, push (into something), often carelessly: fourrer ses clés dans sa poche.^[6][11][1]
4. (familiar) To put, place carelessly.^[2][6]
5. Fourrer son nez partout: to poke one's nose into everything.^[6][2][1]
6. (reflexive, familiar) Se fourrer: to get into (a place, a situation): ne pas savoir où se fourrer.^[2][6]
7. (dated) To cover (a medal, a coin) with a thin layer of gold or silver.^[6][10]
8. (vulgar) To have sex with.^[1][2]

Word family

• fourre-tout
• fourré
• fourreur
• fourrure
• défourrer

Related words

• fourreau

Usage notes

Coup fourré, fourre-tout and fourrer dans le même sac are among the phrases formed with the verb.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 u Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/2, 158a
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)