hareng

Forms

hareng m (plural harengs)^[1] Old French harenc, plural harenz.^[2] Littré notes that the final ⟨g⟩ is never pronounced, while the ⟨s⟩ of the plural is sounded in liaison.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Frankish *hāring (“herring”), a form reconstructed from Middle Dutch harinc, Middle Low German hārinc and Old High German harinc.^[3][4][5] The fish is already called Late Latin aringus in Late Latin.^[3][6][4] The Channel coast has héreng, which according to Bloch and Wartburg continues another Germanic form, with /e/ instead of /a/, as in German Hering.^[6]

Cognate with Italian aringa and Old Occitan arenc, which have the same source.^[6][7] Littré held that the Germanic word itself came from Latin hālec (“fish brine, salted fish”);^[2] the modern dictionaries do not follow him.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the 12th century, in the Glossaire de Tours, for the sea fish that lives in huge shoals.^[3][8] In the 13th century the Livre des métiers sets the rules for herring brought to Paris to be sold, fresh, white or smoked (harenc sor).^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its meaning, the herring, and gathered phrases from the trade in salted and smoked fish: hareng saur “red herring” (sor in the 12th century, saur in 1573), être pressés comme des harengs dans une caque (1690, Furetière), être serrés comme des harengs (before 1850, Balzac) and sec comme un hareng saur (20th century).^[9][4] The proverb la caque sent toujours le hareng (one never loses the marks of one's origins) has a 16th-century form in Noël du Fail, la poche sent toujours le hareng.^[8][2]

In 19th-century slang hareng or hareng saur meant a gendarme (1876), probably for the yellow breeches the gendarmes wore and their stiffness; the sense died out after 1930.^[9][4] On the model of maquereau, the old slang word for a pimp, hareng has also meant a pimp since about 1900.^[4][1] Peau d'hareng (1919, Dorgelès) is an insult.^[4][8]

Timeline

• 12th century – First record, in the Glossaire de Tours.^[3]
• 1226 – Haranchiere, the later harengère “herring seller”, is recorded.^[4][6]
• 1262 – Harenghison, the later harengaison “herring season”, is recorded.^[3][4]
• 1573 – The spelling hareng saur appears.^[9]
• 1690 – Furetière records pressés comme des harengs dans une caque.^[9]
• Before 1850 – Balzac writes serrés comme des harengs.^[4][9]
• 1876 – First slang use for a gendarme.^[4][9]
• c. 1900 – It comes to mean a pimp.^[4]
• 1919 – Peau d'hareng appears in Dorgelès.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A herring, a sea fish living in large shoals, common in the Channel and the North Sea, as in des filets de hareng mariné.^[3][8]
2. Hareng saur: a salted and smoked herring, a kipper or red herring.^[8][2]
3. (familiar) Serrés comme des harengs: packed tightly together, like sardines.^[8][4]
4. (slang) A pimp.^[4][1]
5. (slang, obsolete) A gendarme.^[4][3]

Word family

• harenguet
• harengère
• harengaison
• hareng saur

Related words

• harenguier
• English herring

Usage notes

The ⟨h⟩ is aspirated: le hareng, with no elision or liaison.^[5][8] Peau d'hareng, with elision, is a fixed insult.^[4][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse