grimacer

Forms

grimacer^[1] Middle French grimachier (1428); the spelling grimacer is found in Cotgrave in 1611.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French grimace + -er.^[2][4][1][5] grimace comes by a change of suffix from Old French grimuche (“grotesque figure”),^[5][6] whose stem the TLFi and Rey trace to Frankish *grīma (“mask”), compare Middle Dutch grime and Old Norse gríma.^[2][6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears as grimachier in 1428, in a ballade printed with the Voyage de Jérusalem of the seigneur d'Anglure, meaning to make faces.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Rey notes that the verb followed the senses of grimace: a figurative use for feigned or affected behaviour from 1669, and in tailoring, of a garment that makes a bad crease, from 1690; the TLFi dates the tailoring sense to Furetière (1701).^[6][2] The Dictionnaire général (1900) records it of a painted or carved face with distorted features.^[3] Transitively, grimacer un sourire is to force a smile in spite of pain or reluctance.^[7]

Timeline

• 1428 – Grimachier “to make faces”.^[2][4]
• 1611 – Cotgrave writes grimacer.^[3]
• 1669 – Figurative use.^[6]
• 1690 – Used of a garment that creases badly.^[6]
• 1701 – Furetière records the tailoring sense.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make a face or faces, on purpose or not; to grimace, to wince: grimacer de douleur.^[8][9][7]
2. Of a painted or carved face, to show distorted features.^[3][2]
3. Of a garment, to make a bad crease or fold: Son manteau grimace aux épaules.^[8][9][10]
4. (transitive) Grimacer un sourire: to force a smile despite pain or reluctance.^[7]

Word family

• grimacier
• grimaçant

Related words

• grimace
• grime

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette