graisse

Forms

graisse f (plural graisses)^[1] Old French craisse (about 1120), gresse (about 1150), then graisse (about 1170).^[2][3] Littré quotes 13th-century cresses and gresse.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French craisse, inherited from Vulgar Latin *crassia, an abstract noun formed on Latin crassus (“thick, fat”).^[5][2][6][7] The Latin adjective moved in sense from “thick” to “fat” and is also the source of gras.^[2]

Cognate with Italian grascia, Old Occitan graissa, Catalan greix, Portuguese graixa and Spanish grasa, the last remade on the adjective.^[6][8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as craisse in the Oxford Psalter, in the first half of the 12th century, for the fatty substance in the tissue of people and animals; the Livre des Rois (about 1170) has graisse for the fat of sacrificed beasts.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

From the start graisse was used in two settings: the human body, where it is linked with stoutness and later gave phrases such as faire de la graisse and mauvaise graisse, and stock-raising and food.^[2] The old phrases de prime gresse (about 1150) and de haute graisse (about 1393) meant well fattened.^[5][2] In some expressions, as à la graisse de chevaux de bois, the word suggests something worthless or false.^[2]

By analogy it named the rich part of soil (about 1245), and by metonymy animal fat put to other uses than food and then any fatty substance, such as axle grease (1768).^[5][2] A disease that makes wine viscous is called graisse from 1767, and in printing the word means the thickness of a typeface.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – Craisse appears in the Oxford Psalter.^[5][3]
• c. 1150 – De prime gresse “plump” in the Charroi de Nîmes.^[5]
• c. 1170 – The form graisse in the Livre des Rois.^[5]
• c. 1245 – Used for the rich part of the soil.^[5]
• c. 1393 – Chappons de haulte gresse “well-fattened capons” in the Ménagier de Paris.^[5]
• 1767 – Used for a disease of wine.^[2]
• 1768 – Graisse noire “axle grease”.^[5]
• 1802 – Faire de la graisse is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. fat, the fatty tissue under the skin and in the body of people and animals: faire de la graisse (to put on fat), mauvaise graisse (unhealthy fat).^[10][11][12]
2. Animal fat used in cooking and for other purposes: graisse d'oie (goose fat).^[10][12]
3. grease, a thick lubricating substance.^[12][5][1]
4. (wine-making) A disease that makes wine viscous.^[2][5]
5. (printing) The thickness of a typeface.^[2]

Word family

• graisser
• graisseux
• graissage

Related words

• gras
• engraisser
• engrais
• Latin crassus

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1276a
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
12. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)