mâcher

Forms

mâcher^[1] Old French maschier, later mascher.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French maschier, inherited from Late Latin masticō (“to chew”).^[4][5][2][6] In this sense the Late Latin verb took the place of the classical mandō and mandūcō early in the 4th century;^[4][2] The latter came to mean “to eat” and gave manger.^[4][2] The learned mastiquer is a doublet.^[1][2]

Cognate with Italian masticare, Spanish mascar, Portuguese mastigar and Old Occitan mastegar.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Marie de France's Espurgatoire saint Patrice (about 1185) has Qu'unkes vïande ne mascha “which never chewed food”, of teeth.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Figurative senses developed from the 13th century.^[2] “To take something in and make it one's own” and “to ponder” (about 1350) went out of use, but ne le querre maschier “not to try to hide it, to speak frankly” (late 13th century) lives on as ne pas mâcher (1669) and today's ne pas mâcher ses mots.^[4][2][3] From 1580, when Montaigne wrote of historians who veulent nous mascher les morceaux, it has also meant “to make things easy for someone”, as in mâcher la besogne à quelqu'un (1690).^[4][2][3]

Of a horse champing its bit (1306) it gave the figurative sense “to brood over”.^[2][4] In technical use it means to reduce a substance to pulp, as in papier mâché (Voltaire, 1773).^[2][4]

Timeline

• c. 1185 – Mascha appears in Marie de France's Espurgatoire saint Patrice.^[4][2]
• Late 13th century – Ne le querre maschier “to speak frankly” is recorded.^[4][2]
• 1306 – Guillaume Guiart uses maschier le fraing of a horse champing its bit.^[4][2]
• c. 1350 – Gilles li Muisis uses it for “to ponder”.^[4]
• 1580 – Montaigne writes mascher les morceaux.^[4][2]
• 1669 – Molière uses ne pas mâcher “to speak bluntly”.^[3][2]
• 1690 – Furetière records mâcher la besogne à quelqu'un.^[3]
• 1773 – Voltaire writes of papier mâché.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To chew, crush with the teeth before swallowing.^[8][4]
2. Mâcher la besogne à quelqu'un: to do the hard part of the work for someone, il faut tout lui mâcher everything must be spelled out for him.^[8][7]
3. Ne pas mâcher ses mots: to speak bluntly, not to mince one's words.^[8][2]
4. (technical) To reduce to pulp, as in papier mâché.^[2][4]

Word family

• mâcheur
• mâchoire
• mâchonner
• remâcher

Related words

• mâchouiller
• mastiquer
• manger
• Latin masticō

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 455a
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert