freiner

Forms

freiner^[1]

Etymology

It is a derivative from French frein + -er, the noun being from Latin frēnum (“bridle, bit”).^[2][3][4][1] The Grand Robert dates it to 1899, in La Vie au grand air;^[3][5] the TLFi's first record is from 1907.^[2]

An older verb frener "to curb, restrain" was used from the 13th to the 16th century; it came from frēnō (“to bridle, curb”), used in Latin both literally and figuratively.^[2][3][6] Rey treats the modern verb as a remaking of the old one,^[6] and the GLLF dates the word from its Old French form in Garnier de Pont-Sainte-Maxence (about 1190).^[7] The figurative sense survives in réfréner.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first modern use, at the end of the 19th century, was technical: to slow down or stop a machine or a vehicle with a brake.^[3][2][6] The old frener had meant "to curb, subdue" in a figurative sense.^[2]

Semantic evolution

As a verb of the age of the bicycle and the motor car, freiner was opposed to accélérer, as frein is to accélérateur;^[6] the sense is recorded in 1899 but is probably older.^[6] It soon spread to people and vehicles slowing down, and, transitively, to anything that slows a movement, as wind slowing runners.^[2][5]

The figurative use "to slow the development of, to check" (spending, inflation, enthusiasm) took up again the meaning of the old frener.^[7][5][6] The verb produced freinage (1892), which is also used of the economy.^[6][4] The BHVF records an intransitive skiing use in 1969, absent from the TLFi.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1190 – The GLLF dates the old frener to Garnier de Pont-Sainte-Maxence.^[7]
• 2nd half of the 13th century – Frener "to subdue, curb" is recorded.^[2]
• 1892 – Freinage is recorded.^[6]
• 1899 – Freiner "to brake" appears in La Vie au grand air.^[3][5]
• 1907 – The supplement of the Nouveau Larousse illustré records the technical verb.^[2]
• 1969 – A skiing use is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To slow down or stop a vehicle or a machine with a brake, to brake: elle a freiné avant le carrefour.^[5][2]
2. (intransitive) Of a vehicle, to slow down; to have good or bad brakes.^[2][5]
3. (transitive) To slow down the movement of someone or something.^[5][7]
4. (transitive, figurative) To curb or check a development or a feeling, to restrain: freiner la hausse des loyers.^[5][7][1]

Word family

• freinage
• freineur

Related words

• frein
• réfréner
• Latin frēnum

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF