girafe

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʒi.ʁaf/^[1]

Forms

girafe f (plural girafes)^[1] Old French also had giras (mid-13th century) and orafle (Joinville, late 13th century), taken straight from Arabic.^[2][3][4] The spelling giraffe was still used by Cuvier and Lamarck in the early 19th century.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian giraffa,^[2][3][4] itself from Arabic زرافة (zarāfa, “giraffe”).^[2][3][5][6] The Italian word is recorded from the second half of the 13th century.^[2][3] The Arabic word had already reached Old French directly, giving the short-lived forms giras and orafle, as it gave Old Spanish azorafa.^[2][3][4]

Cognate with Spanish jirafa and Portuguese girafa.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in 1298 in the French text of Marco Polo's travels, in the plural giraffe, for the African animal.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The animal's long neck and thin build gave figurative senses: from 1828 girafe is used familiarly of a tall, thin person, and un cou de girafe “a very long neck” is recorded in 1900.^[3][7] The phrase peigner la girafe “to comb the giraffe”, meaning to do pointless work or nothing at all, dates from the early 20th century;^[3][7] Rey thinks it is more likely an erotic image than the anecdotes told to explain it.^[3]

In film and broadcasting, girafe has named a long jointed boom carrying a microphone since 1931.^[8][3]

Timeline

• mid-13th century – Old French giras, taken directly from Arabic.^[3][4]
• late 13th century – Joinville writes orafle.^[2][9]
• 1298 – Giraffe appears in the French Marco Polo.^[2]
• 1828 – Used of a tall, thin person.^[3][7]
• early 20th century – Peigner la girafe “to do nothing useful”.^[3][7]
• 1931 – A microphone boom is called a girafe.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A giraffe, the long-necked African ruminant.^[10][11]
2. (familiar) A tall, thin person.^[12][11]
3. (film, broadcasting) A boom holding a microphone or camera.^[7][1]
4. Peigner la girafe (familiar): to do useless work, or to do nothing.^[10][13]

Word family

• girafeau
• girafon

Related words

• English giraffe

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, 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. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 19, 207b
7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
13. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale