gouffre

Forms

gouffre m (plural gouffres)^[1] Old French gofre, goufre, also gloufe.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French gofre, inherited from Late Latin colpus, a variant of colfus, from Ancient Greek κόλπος (kólpos, “fold, hollow, bay”).^[5][6][2][1] Latin took the Greek word in the 4th century only in the sense “gulf”, but Gallo-Romance also has the sense “steep valley”, so the TLFi, the DHLF and Bloch and Wartburg think it was probably taken directly from the Greeks of the Mediterranean coast.^[5][2][7] The /f/ would then be a hypercorrect rendering of the Greek /p/;^[5][7][1] Wiktionary also gives a metathesis of the consonants.^[5][7][1]

The word was long confused with golfe, from Italian golfo, and the two were told apart only in the 17th century.^[2][7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie (about 1165) has Al gofre e al sorbissement, for an abyss where one may be swallowed up.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Until the 17th century the word could still mean “gulf of the sea”.^[7][8] From the idea of something that swallows, it meant the gullet (about 1330) and then a glutton (late 14th century); the idea of danger gave the sense of a wretched state into which one falls (before 1525).^[5][2] A whirlpool is recorded from 1538, and in geology a cavity hollowed by water in limestone.^[5][2][9]

Cotgrave has un gouffre d'argent in 1611, and today a ruinous undertaking is un gouffre.^[5][9]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – Gofre appears in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie.^[5][2]
• Late 12th century – The form goufre is found in the Reclus de Molliens.^[4][2]
• c. 1330 – Guillaume de Digulleville uses it for the gullet.^[5]
• Late 14th century – Eustache Deschamps uses it for a glutton.^[5]
• Before 1525 – Jean Lemaire de Belges uses it for a state of ruin.^[5]
• 1538 – Estienne records the sense “whirlpool”.^[5]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records un gouffre d'argent.^[5]
• 17th century – It is finally distinguished from golfe.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A deep, wide hole in the ground, an abyss, chasm.^[9][5]
2. (geology) A cavity hollowed by water in limestone, a pothole.^[9][5]
3. A whirlpool.^[9][5]
4. (figurative) Something unfathomable, or a gulf between things: être au bord du gouffre, on the brink of disaster.^[9][1]
5. Something that swallows up money, a ruinous expense: ce procès est un gouffre.^[9][8]

Word family

• engouffrer

Related words

• golfe
• Ancient Greek κόλπος (kólpos)

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 925b
7. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert