guêpe

Forms

guêpe f (plural guêpes)^[1] Old French wespe (about 1180) and guespe (13th century); the spelling guêpe dates from 1636.^[2][3] Dialect forms include Picard vèpe, wèpe, Norman vêpe, Champenois gouêpe and Berry gèpe.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French wespe, inherited from Latin vespa (“wasp”), which became *wespa in Gaul by crossing with Frankish *waspa of the same meaning.^[5][6][2][7] The German word is attested in Old High German wafsa (also given as wefsa);^[5][8][2] Wiktionary reconstructs the Frankish form as *wapsu and traces both it and the Latin word to Proto-Indo-European *wóbʰseh₂ (“wasp”).^[1] Bloch and Wartburg see an influence both ways: modern German Wespe, already Middle High German, was itself remade on the Latin word, as was Dutch wesp.^[8][2]

Cognate with Italian vespa and Spanish avispa; forms with an initial /v/ live on in the south of France.^[8][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wespe is first found in Marie de France's Fables, about 1180, for the wasp.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

Because of the insect's narrow waist, taille en guêpe (1783), then taille de guêpe (1829), came to mean a very slender waist.^[5][2] From 1829 the word was also used of a sharp-tongued, mocking person,^[5][9] and in 1850 of a cunning woman, as in the dated une fine guêpe (compare fine mouche).^[2][3] The modern familiar pas folle la guêpe ! says that someone is too shrewd to be taken in.^[2][10]

Timeline

• c. 1180 – Wespe appears in Marie de France's Fables.^[5]
• 13th century – The spelling guespe is found.^[2][3]
• 1636 – Monet writes guêpe.^[3][2]
• 1783 – Restif de la Bretonne writes taille en guêpe.^[5]
• 1829 – Taille de guêpe and the sense “mocking person” are recorded.^[5][2]
• 1850 – Sainte-Beuve uses it for a cunning woman.^[3][2]
• 20th century – Pas folle la guêpe ! appears.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wasp, a stinging insect with a yellow and black ringed abdomen: une guêpe tournait autour du pot de confiture.^[10][5]
2. Taille de guêpe: a very slender waist.^[10][5]
3. (dated, figurative) Une fine guêpe: a cunning woman.^[10][2]
4. (familiar) Pas folle la guêpe !: he or she is too shrewd to be fooled.^[10][3]

Word family

• guêpier
• guêpière
• guêper

Related words

• Latin vespa

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ 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 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 342b
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert