grappin

Forms

grappin m (plural grappins)^[1] Middle French grapin, also used in Burgundy for a household utensil from 1371–1375.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from French grappe + -in, the noun in its old sense “hook, clasp”.^[2][3][4][5] The Petit Robert instead takes it from Occitan grapin.^[6] The base meant “hook” from 1213, and Bloch and Wartburg note that this sense had little vitality in French apart from Old French agraper (“to hook”) and this derivative.^[2][3] It is of Germanic origin, from Frankish *krappō (“hook”).^[3][1] Cognate with Spanish grapa, Old Occitan grapa and Italian grappa (“hook”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1382–1384, in the accounts of the Clos des Galées, the royal shipyard at Rouen, for a small anchor with four curved flukes.^[2][4] Bloch and Wartburg give 1376, and Burgundian inventories use grapin for a utensil from 1371–1375.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

It began as a seaman's word for a small anchor with several hooked arms (1382), and by 1466 it named the grappling iron thrown on an enemy ship to board it.^[2][4] By analogy it was applied to any tool fitted with hooks (Furetière, 1701).^[2][4]

From the boarding hook came the figurative phrase mettre le grappin sur “to get one's hooks into, to seize on” someone or something, found in Saint-Simon at the end of the 17th century;^[4][7][2] jeter le grappin sur is recorded by the Académie in 1740.^[4][7][2] In slang it can also mean a hand.^[1]

Timeline

• 1371–1375 – Burgundian inventories use grapin for a utensil.^[2]
• 1382–1384 – First record as “small four-pronged anchor”, at Rouen.^[2][4]
• 1466 – P. Michault uses it for a boarding hook.^[2][4]
• late 17th century – Saint-Simon writes mettre le grappin sur.^[7][4]
• 1701 – Furetière applies it to any instrument with hooks.^[2]
• 1740 – The Académie records jeter le grappin sur.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. (nautical) A small anchor with four or five curved, pointed arms, used by small boats.^[6][2][7]
2. (nautical) A grappling iron at the end of a rope, formerly thrown to hold an enemy ship for boarding.^[2][6]
3. (technical) Any instrument fitted with hooks, such as a fishing grapnel or a grab.^[6][2]
4. Mettre le grappin sur, jeter le grappin sur: to get hold of someone or something and not let go.^[6][2]
5. (slang) A hand.^[1]

Related words

• agrapper
• grappe

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse