frotter

Forms

frotter^[1] Old French froter; the spelling frotter dates from the 16th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French froter, probably inherited from Late Latin frictō (“to rub”), a frequentative of fricō (“to rub, polish, curry”) recorded late, in the 7th-century Hisperica famina.^[4][5][2][6] The origin is uncertain.^[4][2] A common source is generally assumed for the forms with ⟨-oi-⟩, ⟨-e-⟩ and ⟨-o-⟩, which include Old French freter, Old Occitan fretar and Italian frettare (“to clean the submerged hull of a boat”).^[4][5][2] How the forms with ⟨o⟩ relate to those with ⟨e⟩ is unexplained.^[5][2] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert see the verb as the ⟨e⟩ form with a change of suffix, the GLLF as a variant with a vowel alternation.^[3][7][8] Littré thought the old verb froier, from the same Latin verb, may have helped the change of vowel.^[9]

Pierre Guiraud linked it with frôler, both having meant “to thrash”, and proposed Vulgar Latin *frauditō as the source, from fraudō (“to cheat, wrong”); the DHLF finds this weak on the semantic side.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded between 1121 and 1134 in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire (E ses cornes froter), meaning to pass one body repeatedly and firmly over another.^[4][2] In Gautier d'Arras, Ganor frote ses dois, frote ses mains.^[9]

Semantic evolution

By about 1175 it meant scrubbing a person while washing, and in the 13th century frotter de meant to coat by rubbing (se frotter de about 1160), whence in 1839 être frotté de “to have a smattering of”.^[4][2] About 1275 it meant to knock against something.^[4] From the 13th century it also meant to beat someone, a sense behind frotter les oreilles à quelqu'un (1669, Molière) and the slang sense “to thrash” (1808), which died out in the 20th century.^[4][2][8]

In 1690 it took the sense of cleaning or polishing by rubbing, whence jocular frotter le parquet “to dance”, and in Belgium frotter la manche “to flatter”.^[2][8] Se frotter à quelqu'un meant to attack in the 15th century and to keep company with someone before 1613; it survives in sayings such as qui s'y frotte s'y pique.^[2] An erotic sense, already in Rabelais's frotter son lard (1534), is still alive.^[2]

Timeline

• 1121–1134 – Froter appears in Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire.^[4]
• c. 1175 – It means to scrub someone while washing.^[4]
• 13th century – It means to coat by rubbing, and to beat someone.^[4][2]
• 16th century – The spelling frotter appears.^[2]
• 1534 – Rabelais uses frotter son lard in an erotic sense.^[2]
• 1669 – Molière uses frotter les oreilles à quelqu'un.^[8][2]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense of polishing by rubbing.^[8][2]
• 1808 – Slang uses it for “to thrash”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To rub one thing against another with pressure: frotter une allumette.^[7][10][1]
2. To clean or polish by rubbing, to scrub: Elle frotte les casseroles avec une éponge.^[7][1]
3. To rub a person, to massage.^[2][7]
4. frotter de: to coat or rub with a substance.^[2][4]
5. (intransitive) To rub or make a rubbing noise: La roue frotte contre le garde-boue.^[10]
6. se frotter à: to provoke or take on someone;^[1][2] qui s'y frotte s'y pique.^[1][2]
7. se frotter les mains: to rub one's hands, as a sign of satisfaction.^[1]

Word family

• frottement
• frotteur
• frottis
• frottoir

Related words

• frayer
• friction
• Latin fricō

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 q r s t u v Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 786a
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)