lutte

Forms

lutte f (plural luttes)^[1] Old French luite and lute (about 1155); the spelling lutte dates from the 16th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

The TLFi and the GLLF take it as a deverbal noun from French lutter.^[5][2] Rey thinks it may have been formed after Late Latin lucta (“wrestling”), and the Grand Robert gives it either as from the Late Latin word or from the verb;^[6][3] Wiktionary has it inherited from the Late Latin noun.^[1] The verb, first loiter (1080) and then luiter (1274), took its modern form when ⟨ui⟩ was reduced to ⟨u⟩ in the early 17th century; it continues Latin luctor (“to wrestle”), first a term of gymnastics, which Rey compares with Ancient Greek λυγίζω (lugízō, “to bend, twist”).^[6][7]

Cognate with Italian lotta, Occitan lucha, Spanish lucha, Portuguese luta and Romanian luptă.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Wace's Brut (1155) luite is the effort of two people who grip each other to throw each other down, wrestling.^[5][2][6]

Semantic evolution

By about 1175 it had widened to any violent opposition between people or groups,^[5][6] and by 1176–1184 to the strain of an effort made to reach a result,^[5] hence the adverbial phrases de haute lutte and de vive lutte (16th century).^[6][5]

At the end of the 18th century it came to mean war between powers (1797), the play of opposing forces (1801) and people's effort to win something or to fight an evil (1801).^[5][6] Lutte des classes is found in Guizot in 1828 and is now understood in the Marxist sense (1847);^[6][5] lutte pour la vie renders the English struggle for life, which an 1859 translation of Darwin gave as lutte pour l'existence.^[6] In stock farming it has meant the mating of sheep since 1835.^[5][9]

Timeline

• 1155 – Luite “wrestling” in Wace's Brut.^[5][2]
• c. 1175 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it for a violent fight.^[5][6]
• 16th century – The spelling lutte and the phrase de haute lutte.^[3][6]
• 1797 – Sénac de Meilhan uses it for war between powers.^[5]
• 1801 – The struggle of opposing forces.^[5][6]
• 1828 – Lutte des classes in Guizot.^[5][6]
• 1835 – The mating of sheep.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hand-to-hand fight.^[4][10]
2. (sports) Wrestling, a combat sport in which each opponent tries to throw the other: lutte gréco-romaine, lutte libre.^[4][10][2]
3. A violent opposition between people or groups, each trying to impose its will, a struggle or conflict: lutte armée.^[4][10][2]
4. An effort to overcome an obstacle or to fight an evil.^[5][6]
5. The action of opposing forces.^[5]
6. De haute lutte: by force, after a hard struggle.^[6][5]
7. (stock farming) The mating of sheep.^[5][9]

Related words

• lutter
• lutteur
• Latin lucta
• Latin luctor

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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. ^ 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
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 439a
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)