gâcher

Forms

gâcher^[1] Old French gaschier (1260), Middle French gascher (15th century); the spelling with ⟨â⟩ dates from the 17th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French gaschier, borrowed from Frankish *waskōn (“to wash, to soak”),^[3][2][4][5] reconstructed from Old High German wascan and Middle Dutch wasschen,^[3][2] and related to German waschen and English wash;^[2][6] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Germanic *waskaną.^[1] The TLFi thinks the Frankish verb entered Gallo-Romance in the general sense “to put through water, to wash roughly”, which survives in northern dialects for the first rinsing of linen, and is the source of the technical and the pejorative senses.^[3] Bloch and Wartburg give the Frankish form as *waskan.^[7]

Pierre Guiraud proposed instead Vulgar Latin *vasicō (“to stir like grapes in the vat”), a Gallo-Romance form, from Latin vās (“vessel”).^[2][6] Littré related the verb to Italian guazzare (“to soak”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers (1260) has gaschier for soaking fish in water to remove the salt;^[3][2] an ordinance forbids the fishmongers of Paris to gascher salt cod, mackerel or herring.^[8]

Semantic evolution

From “to stir in water, to wash roughly”, the verb came to mean mixing mortar or plaster with water (early 14th century, though the 1314 record in Fauvel is uncertain; securely about 1450).^[3][2][7] A regional, rural sense is “to knead”,^[2] and in 1538 Estienne records it for “to row”, an oar being a gâche that stirs the water.^[3][2]

From the idea of quick, rough work the figurative senses followed: “to sell one's goods too cheap, to work for too little” (Savary, 1741), “to do a job badly” (d'Hautel, 1808) and “to waste, to spoil” (Larousse, 1872), now the commonest use.^[3][2][4] Gâcher le plaisir of someone dates from the early 20th century.^[4] The derivative gâchis followed the same path, from “mortar” to “a mess” (1775).^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1260 – Gaschier “to soak salt fish” in Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers.^[3]
• 1292 – The derivative gascheeur is recorded.^[2][7]
• c. 1450 – Used for mixing plaster in the Mistère du Viel Testament.^[3]
• 1538 – Estienne records the sense “to row”.^[3]
• 17th century – The spelling gâcher appears.^[2][4]
• 1741 – Savary records “to sell too cheap”.^[3][2]
• 1808 – d'Hautel records “to do a job badly”.^[3][2]
• 1872 – Larousse records “to waste, to ruin”.^[3][2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To mix plaster, cement or mortar with water;^[3][9][8] gâcher lâche and gâcher serré are to mix it thin or stiff.^[3][9][8]
2. (agriculture) To cover a stack of straw with wet earth, or the roots of growing wheat with soil.^[3][8]
3. To do a piece of work carelessly, to botch: gâcher la besogne.^[3][9]
4. To waste something by misusing it or failing to profit from it: Elle a gâché toutes ses chances.^[3][9]
5. To spoil, to mar: L'orage a gâché la fête.^[9][4]
6. Gâcher le métier: to work or sell too cheaply.^[9][8]

Word family

• gâcheur
• gâchis
• gâchage
• gâchoir

Related words

• English wash

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 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 m n o p q r s 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 d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 541a
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert