fusil

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fy.zi/^[1]

Forms

fusil m (plural fusils)^[1] Judeo-French foisil (before 1105), Old French focil (1174–1178), fuisil (12th century); fusil from about 1244.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French foisil, inherited from Vulgar Latin *focīlis (“producing fire”), probably short for a phrase meaning “fire stone”, from Latin focus (“hearth, fire”);^{[2][3][5][1][6]} Isidore has a similar phrase with focāris for flint.^[2] The form fuisil, the source of the modern word, is an irregular development.^[2][7]

Compare Italian fucile.^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rashi's glosses (before 1105) have foisil, the piece of steel struck against a flint to make sparks.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

By analogy it named the steel rod used to sharpen knives (13th century), the fusil de boucher.^[2][3][7] In the old firearms it was the steel plate struck by the flint (about 1630), and by metonymy the firearm itself, recorded by Pomey in 1671; the weapon is said to have been invented in France in 1630 and to have replaced the musket in 1671.^[2][3][7] It then took over from other terms for the long-barrelled individual firearm.^[3]

It also means a marksman (1888).^[3] Changer son fusil d'épaule “to change one's mind or plans” is in Verlaine (1894), and coup de fusil has been an exorbitant bill since 1887.^[3][4] In slang the hollow barrel gave “throat, stomach”: Gavroche says colle-toi ça dans le fusil in Les Misérables (1862).^[3][9] The derivatives fusilier (1589), fusiller (1732) and fusillade (1790) followed the weapon.^[7]

Timeline

• Before 1105 – Foisil in Rashi's glosses.^[2]
• c. 1244 – The form fusil.^[3]
• 13th century – A sharpening steel.^[2]
• 1589 – Fusilier.^[7]
• c. 1630 – The steel of a flintlock.^[3]
• 1671 – A firearm (Pomey).^[2]
• 1732 – Fusiller.^[7]
• 1862 – Slang “stomach”, in Hugo.^[3]
• 1887 – Coup de fusil “exorbitant bill”.^[3]
• 1894 – Changer son fusil d'épaule.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A gun, rifle: fusil de chasse, a shotgun, fusil d'assaut, an assault rifle.^[10][1]
2. A marksman: un bon fusil.^[3][4]
3. A sharpening steel for knives.^[10][3]
4. (historical) The steel struck against a flint to make sparks, pierre à fusil, a flint.^[10][1]
5. Changer son fusil d'épaule: to change one's plans or opinions, coup de fusil: an exorbitant bill, en chien de fusil: curled up.^[3][1]
6. (slang, dated) The stomach.^[9][3]

Word family

• fusil-mitrailleur
• fusilier
• fusillade
• fusiller

Related words

• feu
• foyer

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 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 f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 650a
7. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert