Etymologically
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goule

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Pronunciation

Forms

goule f (plural goules)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Arabic غول (ġūl, “a demon that devours people”), often feminine,[2][3][4][5][1][6] first known in France through d'Herbelot's “Bibliothèque orientale” (1697) and Galland's translation of the “Thousand and One Nights” (1712).[2][5] Littré derives it from a verb meaning “to fall upon someone”, and notes after Pihan that the Arabic word is masculine and means a kind of werewolf.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

D'Herbelot (1697) has the plural gaïlan, a kind of forest demon; in Galland's Mille et une nuits (1712) les Goules are demons roaming the countryside, who fall upon travellers, kill them and eat their flesh.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Nodier (1821) made it current in French literature, and a goule became a female vampire that, in Eastern legend, devours corpses in graveyards.[4][5][2][8] Balzac asks in which cemetery a young goule has dug up a corpse[9][2]; Gautier plays on goules d'amour.[9][2] By analogy a carnivorous plant is a goule végétale.[2]

Timeline

  • 1697 – Gaïlan (d'Herbelot).[2]
  • 1712 – Goules (Galland).[2][5]
  • 1821 – Nodier.[4][5]
  • 1878 – First recorded by the Académie.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A ghoul, a female demon of Eastern legend that feeds on corpses.[8][10]

Usage notes

A second goule (from 1808) is the old form of gueule “mouth”, from Latin gula, revived in popular and regional speech; it survives in goulée, goulet and goulot.[3][5][9][1] In Brittany goules are also sea caves.[11]

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 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. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 19, 53b
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF