gonfler

Forms

gonfler^[1] Confler (1555) and gonfer (1542, Franche-Comté).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cōnflō (“to fan a fire by blowing; to swell”), a word of the south-west of France.^[2][4][5][1] The Latin verb meant to kindle a fire by blowing, to melt down, to forge, and in Late Latin became a synonym of īnflō “to swell”.^[4][2] It is formed from con- (“with”) and flō (“to blow”).^[4][3] Bloch and Wartburg see it as taken from the south-western dialects, where it was inherited and many forms keep the Latin /k/.^[5] The first form, confler (1555), is from a writer born in Carpentras.^[2]

Littré, and the REW and other dictionaries quoted by the TLFi, derived it from Italian gonfiare; the TLFi rejects this because the word is widespread in the dialects.^[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Vasquin Philieul's translation of Petrarch (1555) has confler “to swell”; in 1559 the translation of Dioscorides by Mathée has gonfler, of fresh grapes that swell the stomach.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The verb first had the Latin sense “to swell” and then “to make larger” (1559; reflexive about 1560).^[4] It became a common synonym of enfler in popular speech,^[5] and the invention of pneumatic tyres at the start of the 20th century gave it a large new field, with gonflage (1893) and gonfleur (1911).^[4]

Figuratively, a heart swells with sorrow (cœur gonflé de chagrin, before 1606) and a person with boldness (gonflé d'audace, Corneille 1667).^[4][2] Gonflé alone meant “brave” in 1842 and “bold, cheeky” from 1919, a former airman's word;^[4][2] gonflé à bloc calls up a fully pumped tyre.^[4][2] It also means “to exaggerate, inflate” a figure (1884), and since the 1980s tu me gonfles “you annoy me”.^[4] Se dégonfler “to back down” seems to come from sport, like a deflating ball.^[5]

Timeline

• 1555 – Confler “to swell” in Vasquin Philieul.^[2]
• 1559 – Gonfler “to make larger” in Mathée's Dioscorides.^[2]
• 1667 – Corneille writes gonflé d'audace.^[2][4]
• 1842 – Gonflé “brave”.^[4]
• 1884 – The sense “to inflate a figure”.^[4]
• 1919 – Être gonflé “to be bold”.^[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To inflate, to fill with air or gas: gonfler les pneus du vélo.^[7][1]
2. To make larger, to swell: l'orage a gonflé la rivière.^[7][8]
3. (intransitive) To swell, to puff up.^[1][7]
4. (figurative) To fill with a feeling: la joie lui gonflait le cœur.^[8][4]
5. To exaggerate or overstate a figure.^[4]
6. (familiar) To get on someone's nerves.^[1][4]
7. Être gonflé (familiar): to have nerve, to be cheeky;^[7][4] gonflé à bloc: full of drive.^[7][4]

Word family

• gonflable
• gonflant
• gonflette
• gonflement
• dégonfler
• gonflage
• gonfleur
• regonfler

Related words

• enfler
• souffler

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 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 l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse