Etymologically
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gauche

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɡoʃ/[1]

Forms

gauche (plural gauches)[1] Early spellings include guauche (about 1225) and gaulche (1471).[2][3][4]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[4][2][5] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF take it from the verb gauchir “to turn aside, warp”,[6][7][8] which Bloch and Wartburg explain as Old French guenchir (“to swerve”), from Frankish *wenkjan, crossed with gauchier (“to tread, full”), from Frankish *walkan.[6][1] Meyer-Lübke similarly derives it from *walkan, the “left hand” being the “crushed hand”.[9] Rey finds a Germanic origin through gauchir difficult, and mentions Guiraud's proposal of a Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin *valgicus, from Latin valgus (“bow-legged”), which he calls unsupported.[2][3]

Why gauche replaced the inherited senestre in the 15th century, as droit replaced Old French destre, is not known.[4][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first sense, about 1225, is “crooked, askew”, and in the 14th century it is used as an adverb, “awry”: a poem speaks of interpreting texts “gauche”.[2][10][7] It means “left” in 1471, in la main gaulche “the left hand”.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The idea of crookedness gave the geometric sense “not in one plane” (courbe gauche, 1676)[7][5] and, of people, “clumsy, awkward” (1660).[2][7] Bloch and Wartburg note that the word meant “what is askew”, hence “clumsy”, and took the place of senestre when droit took that of destre.[6] The noun la gauche “the left side” is from 1549,[4] and phrases followed: mariage de la main gauche “morganatic or unofficial union” (1680), passer l'arme à gauche “to die” (1832), mettre à gauche “to put money by” (1901).[2]

The political sense dates from the Revolution: in 1789 the supporters of the Revolution sat on the president's left in the Assembly, and the political noun is recorded from 1791.[2][4] Extrême gauche is recorded in 1824.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1225 – Guauche “crooked”.[2][3]
  • 14th century – Adverb “awry”.[10][7]
  • 1471 – La main gaulche “the left hand”.[4][2]
  • 1549 – La gauche “the left side”.[4]
  • 1660 – “Clumsy” of a person.[2][7]
  • 1676 – Courbe gauche in geometry.[7][5]
  • 1791 – La gauche in politics.[2]
  • 1824 – Extrême gauche.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Left, on the side of the heart: la main gauche.[5][8]
  2. Awkward, clumsy, lacking ease.[5][11]
  3. Warped, not flat;[8] (geometry) not lying in one plane.[5][8]

Noun

  1. La gauche: the left side.[5][8]
  2. (politics) The left, the progressive parties and their supporters.[5][8]
  3. (boxing) The left fist; a punch with it.[8][1]

Word family

  • gaucher
  • gauchiste

Usage notes

À gauche means “to the left”; familiar jusqu'à la gauche (1881) means “completely”.[2]

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 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 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 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)