lièvre

Forms

lièvre m (plural lièvres)^[1] Old French levre (about 1100), then lievre (1155).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle French lievre, inherited from Old French lievre, inherited from Latin lepus (“hare”), in the accusative ⟨leporem⟩.^{[3][2][5][1][6]} Rey calls the Latin word Mediterranean: there is no Indo-European name for the hare, probably because the animal was thought to bring bad luck and was not named.^[2]

The dialects have Walloon lîv in Walloon and Picard lieuve in Picard.^[7] In Old French the word was often feminine, as it still is in southern dialects and in French-speaking Switzerland.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as levre in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100): pur un sul levre vait tute jur cornant “for a single hare he goes blowing his horn all day”.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

From the 12th century the hare stood for cowardice: Wace writes si semble lievre de pöur “he looks like a hare for fear” (1155), and Chrétien de Troyes speaks of men cowardly as hares (about 1176).^[3] About 1200 a gras lievre was a rich victim.^[3] Other figures come from hunting: vecy où git le lievre “here lies the difficulty” (1465), later c'est là que gît le lièvre, lever un lièvre “to be the first to raise an awkward matter” (1663) and courir deux lièvres à la fois “to pursue two aims at once” (1668).^[3][2][8]

The word stayed common partly through cookery, as in civet de lièvre.^[2] With a qualifier it names other animals, such as lièvre de mer (13th century), a fish.^[2][9] From the hare's speed it named the runner who sets the pace at the head of a race (1899).^[2][8]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Levre appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[3][2]
• c. 1135 – The derivative lévrier “greyhound” appears.^[2]
• 1155 – Wace writes lievre.^[3][4]
• c. 1200 – Gras lievre “rich victim”.^[3]
• c. 1280 – Used as a feminine noun.^[2]
• 1306 – Levroz, the ancestor of levraut.^[2][5]
• 1465 – Chastellain writes vecy où git le lievre.^[3]
• 1663 – Lever un lièvre in Chapelain's letters.^[3][2]
• 1668 – Courir deux lièvres à la fois.^[2]
• 1899 – Used in sport of a pacemaker.^[2][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hare, a fast-running mammal related to the rabbit; the female is the hase and the young the levraut.^[8][3]
2. The meat of the hare: civet de lièvre.^[8][2]
3. Courir deux lièvres à la fois: to pursue two aims at once.^[8][2]
4. Lever un lièvre: to raise an awkward or embarrassing question unexpectedly.^[8][2]
5. (dated) C'est là que gît le lièvre: that is the heart of the matter.^[8]
6. (sports) A pacemaker who leads a race to set a fast pace; also the lure chased by greyhounds.^[8][1]

Word family

• lévrier
• levraut
• levrette

Related words

• Latin lepus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 258b
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse