huer

Forms

huer^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Old French hu + -er, on the onomatopoeic cry Old French hu also seen in hue.^[2][3][4][5] Picoche groups it with hurler and chat-huant in a family of words imitating the cry of the wolf and of night birds, and calls it a French onomatopoeic formation.^[6] Bloch and Wartburg note that the cry was an interjection used to warn of danger and other calls from the 12th to the 16th century.^[7]

Littré compares Picard huyer (“to shout loudly”) and Walloon houwer, huwer; he records Diez's view that it is an onomatopoeia from that cry, which he thought most likely, and Scheler's derivation from Latin hūc (“here”).^[8] Wiktionary instead suggests Old Norse *huta (“to shout, make a noise”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1160 in the Eneas, meaning to urge on a dog by shouting (hue son chien).^[2][4][9]

Semantic evolution

In the hunt the verb soon meant to shout to drive an animal out of its hiding place (the fox in the Roman de Renart, 1174–1200), and in the 13th century especially the wolf (le leu huer).^[2] From there came the hunting sense of shouting to drive game in a given direction (mid-16th century, Ronsard; recorded by Furetière in 1690).^[4][9] Littré also gives a fishing use, driving fish into the nets by shouting.^[8]

The sense of shouting at someone in hostility or mockery appears in 1174–1176 in Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence's life of Thomas Becket, and is the common sense today.^[2][9][8] Used without an object, it meant to shout (about 1175, Benoît de Sainte-Maure); in 1279 Adenet le Roi's Berte uses it for the cry of the owl.^[2][8] Its present participle survives in chat-huant.^[7][5]

Timeline

• c. 1160 – The Eneas uses it for urging on a dog by shouting.^[2]
• 1174–1176 – Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence uses it for covering someone with jeers.^[2]
• c. 1175 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it for shouting.^[2]
• 1174–1200 – The Roman de Renart uses it for shouting to drive an animal out.^[2]
• 1279 – Adenet le Roi uses it of the owl's cry.^[2][8]
• mid-16th century – Ronsard uses it for driving game by shouts.^[4][9]
• 1690 – Furetière records the hunting sense.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To boo, jeer: to shout at someone or something in derision or hostility;^[5][2][10] se faire huer “to be booed”.^[5][2][10]
2. (hunting, dated) To drive game with shouts, to hunt the wolf with shouts.^[2][5][9]
3. (intransitive) Of an owl: to give its cry, to hoot.^[5][10][8]

Word family

• huée

Related words

• hue
• chat-huant
• hurler

Usage notes

The h is aspirated: there is no elision or liaison before it.^[4][5]

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 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 501b
4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
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
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)