grogner

Forms

grogner^[1] Old French gronir and grunir, then grognier (end of the 12th century); Middle French grongner.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French gronir (“to grumble”), inherited from Latin grunniō (“to grunt (of a pig)”), a variant of grundiō, the source of gronder.^[2][5][6][7] The Old French verb was altered to grognier after groin “snout”.^[2][6][8] Littré notes that the regular form was grunir in the 12th century and that the verb later passed into the first conjugation.^[4] Rey traces the Latin verb to an imitative base ⟨grun-⟩, also seen in Old French grommer.^[6]

Cognate with Old Occitan gronhir, Italian grugnire, Catalan grunyir, Spanish gruñir and Portuguese grunhir.^[7][9] The same imitative base is found in Germanic, as in English grunt and German grunzen.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence's Vie de saint Thomas (1174–1176) gronir means “to grumble in discontent”, and grognier is used of a man at the end of the 12th century in the Moniage Guillaume.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The verb was used of people protesting (1190) and of an animal's cry;^[2][6] Gautier de Coinci uses it of an animal about 1223.^[2][6] From the pig's grunt it passed to the sound of other animals, such as a dog's growl, and of people making a dull, inarticulate noise.^[3][2] It meant “to be hostile to someone” in the early 15th century and “to scold someone” by 1835.^[6]

The idea of grumbling discontent is also in the deverbal noun grogne (1364), revived by a well-known speech of General de Gaulle, and in grognon (1721).^[6] grognard was applied under Napoleon I to the old soldiers, notably of the Old Guard.^[7]

Timeline

• 1174–1176 – Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence uses gronir “to grumble”.^[2]
• End of the 12th century – Grognier is used of a man in the Moniage Guillaume.^[2]
• c. 1223 – Gautier de Coinci uses it of an animal.^[2]
• 1364 – The noun grongne appears in Guillaume de Machaut.^[2][6]
• 1690 – Furetière records it of a person making inarticulate sounds.^[3]
• 1721 – Grognon appears as a nickname, mère Grognon.^[6]
• 1835 – Recorded in the sense “to scold someone”.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) Of a pig, wild boar or bear: to grunt.^[9][2]
2. Of an animal: to growl.^[9][1]
3. Of a person: to make a dull, inarticulate sound.^[2][3]
4. To grumble, show discontent with muttered complaints: grogner contre son patron.^[9][2]
5. (transitive) To say in a grumbling tone.^[9]

Word family

• grognard
• grognement
• grognerie
• grognon
• grognonner
• grogne

Related words

• gronder
• groin
• grommeler
• Latin grunniō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 291a
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert