larcin

Forms

larcin m (plural larcins)^[1] Old French larrecin (1130), later larcin (1246).^[2][3] Anglo-Norman forms include larecin and larsin.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French larrecin, inherited from Latin latrōcinium (“armed robbery, brigandage”), from latrō (“robber”), the source of larron.^[2][3][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg instead call it a borrowing from Latin.^[7]

Cognate with Catalan lladronici, Spanish ladrocinio and Italian latrocinio.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as larrecin in 1130 in the Lois de Guillaume, meaning theft.^[2][3] Littré quotes the same laws: Si home apeled altre de larcin “if a man accuses another of theft”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The word has always meant theft, now above all a petty theft, and by metonymy the thing stolen (1690, Furetière).^[3][5] Old French had the phrase en larcin “secretly, by stealth”, used from the 12th to the 15th century.^[3][8]

The figurative senses “favour stolen from a woman” (les larcins d'amour, 1566) and “borrowing from an author, plagiarism” (before 1615) went out of use after the classical period, according to Rey,^[3] though the GLLF still lists them as literary.^[5] English larceny (late 15th century) comes from the Anglo-French larcin.^[9]

Timeline

• 1130 – Larrecin appears in the Lois de Guillaume.^[2]
• 1246 – The form larcin appears in the charters of the county of Rethel.^[2]
• Late 15th century – English borrows it as larceni.^[9]
• 1566 – Desportes writes of les larcins d'Amour.^[2]
• Before 1615 – Étienne Pasquier uses it for plagiarism.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “stolen object”.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) A petty theft, committed stealthily and without violence.^[10][2]
2. (dated) The stolen object.^[10][1]
3. (figurative, literary) Plagiarism, a passage taken from another author.^[5][8]
4. (literary) A favour stolen from a woman: un doux larcin, a stolen kiss.^[8][5]

Related words

• larron
• Latin latrōcinium
• English larceny

References

1. ^ a b 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 e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 202b
7. ^ 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert