friser

Forms

friser^[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg derive it, very probably, from French frire (“to fry”), from the stem fris- that some of its forms had from the 14th to the 16th century: food fried in oil twists and curls up until it looks like curled locks of hair.^[4][2] They add that the clash between frire and Old French frir (“to strike”), which left both verbs with only a few forms, may have helped this development.^[4][2] The FEW files the verb under Latin frīgō (“to fry”).^[5] The TLFi accepts the link with frire for the senses “to graze” and “to curl”, by a likeness of shape with the edges of frying food, but connects the earlier textile sense probably with frise, the name of a woollen cloth.^[6] The Grand Robert likewise suggests a derivation from that cloth name, with the influence of the forms of frire for the sense “to curl”.^[3]

Other explanations have been put forward.^[2][7] Meyer-Lübke derives the verb from the cloth name, Latin frisia (“Frisian (wool)”), arguing that its special connection with fabrics makes this likely.^[7] P. Guiraud found the link with frire hard to accept and suggested a Gallo-Romance verb meaning “to undulate”, based on Latin fretum (“wave breaking on the shore”), which would also account for both nouns frise.^[2] Littré and Wiktionary look to a Germanic source instead, comparing Old Frisian frisle (“curly hair”), which Wiktionary traces to Proto-Germanic *frisaz (“curly”).^[8][1]

Cognate with Spanish frisar (“to frieze cloth”).^[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The textile sense comes first: frisé, a noun naming a fabric, appears in an inventory of 1407 (manteaulx de frisé blanc, “cloaks of white frieze”), and the verb itself in the accounts of King René in 1448, of working cloth to make a robe.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

In 1504 Jean Lemaire de Belges uses the verb for “to brush, touch lightly”.^[6][2] Bloch and Wartburg trace this sense to the musical use “to make a string vibrate by brushing it”, very much alive in the 17th century;^[4] the TLFi notes that the path to it is not clear and that this musical sense is recorded by Monet in 1636.^[6] The figurative sense “to come close to” followed in 1690, as in friser la quarantaine “to be nearly forty”.^[2][9]

The sense now felt as central, of putting hair into curls, is first found in Ronsard in 1552, together with the intransitive “to be or become curly”.^[6][2][3] Technical uses followed: in printing, of a sheet that prints with a blurred, trembling impression (1694), in the navy (friser les sabords, 1694), and in music, of a trembling sound (1857).^[6][2]

The English verb frizz, recorded from the 1610s, is probably from friser.^[10]

Timeline

• 1407 – Frisé names a fabric in an inventory.^[6][2]
• 1448 – The verb appears in the accounts of King René, of cloth.^[6][2]
• 1504 – Jean Lemaire de Belges uses it for “to graze, touch lightly”.^[6][4]
• 1552 – Ronsard uses it of hair.^[6][3]
• 1636 – Monet records the musical sense of making a string vibrate.^[6]
• 1690 – The figurative sense “to come close to” appears.^[2][9]
• 1694 – Thomas Corneille records it as a printing term and in friser les sabords.^[6]
• 1857 – It is used in music of a trembling sound.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To curl hair or other fibres into small, tight curls: se faire friser chez le coiffeur.^[11][8]
2. (transitive, rare) To wrinkle or ripple something finely by brushing it.^[11]
3. (transitive) To pass very close to, to graze or skim: l'avion frisait la cime des arbres.^[11][2]
4. (transitive, figurative) To come close to, to border on: friser la quarantaine.^[2][1]
5. (intransitive) To be curly or to become curly: ses cheveux frisent sous la pluie.^[2][3]
6. (printing) To print with a doubled or blurred impression.^[1][2]

Word family

• frisette
• frison
• frisotter
• frisure
• défriser
• frisé
• friseur
• frisoir
• friseler

Related words

• frire
• frise
• English frizz

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 k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
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 c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 794a
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c 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. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert