marcher

Pronunciation

• IPA: /maʁ.ʃe/^[1]

Forms

marcher^[1] Old French marchier.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French marchier (“to tread, trample”), inherited from Frankish *markōn (“to mark, imprint (a step)”).^{[3][4][5][6][1]} The Frankish verb, from Proto-Germanic *markōną, is attested by Old High German marcōn (“to mark out, set bounds”) and Old Norse marka (“to mark”), and belongs to the family of marquer, marche “border province” and marge.^[3][4][7]

Littré records the earlier explanations, from “marche” “frontier” (Diez), from Latin “mercārī” or from a Germanic word for “horse”, all refuted when Scheler showed that the oldest sense was “to press with the foot”.^[8] Spanish marchar, Italian marciare, German marschieren and English “march” were borrowed from French, from the 16th century especially as a military term.^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1170 Marie de France's Eliduc uses it transitively, “to trample underfoot”; in Chrétien de Troyes's Yvain a horse marcha le fust, “stepped on the beam”.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the basic sense was “to tread on, trample”, kept in the technical sense “to knead with the feet” (clay) and in eastern dialects “to thresh”.^[5][4][6] Marcher sur “to set foot on” dates from 1178, and the intransitive sense “to walk” from about 1180, Bloch and Wartburg date its general use to the 15th century.^[3][5]

Troops marchent from the late 15th century.^[3] In the 17th century it was said of a mechanism that works (Corneille, 1643) and of an affair that goes well (1690), now very common (ça marche).^[3][4] Faire marcher quelqu'un meant “to get one's way with someone” (1756), then “to pull someone's leg” (1852), and marcher alone “to go along with” (1800) and “to be taken in”.^[3][4] A play marche when it succeeds (Beaumarchais, 1785).^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – Marchier “to trample” in Marie de France.^[3]
• 1178 – Marcher sur in the Roman de Renart.^[3]
• c. 1180 – “To walk”, in the Proverbes au vilain.^[3]
• Late 15th century – Of troops on the move.^[3]
• 1611 – Marcher à quatre pattes in Cotgrave.^[3]
• 1643 – Of a mechanism, in Corneille.^[3]
• 1690 – Cette affaire marche bien.^[3]
• 1852 – Faire marcher “to fool”.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To walk: marcher vite, un enfant qui commence à marcher.^[7][1]
2. To march, advance: marcher sur la ville, marcher vers.^[3][1]
3. Marcher sur: to step on, tread on: marcher sur les pieds de quelqu'un.^[3][2]
4. Of a machine, to run, work; of an affair, to go well: ça marche.^[1][4]
5. (familiar) To go along with something; to be taken in: faire marcher quelqu'un.^[1][3]
6. (technical, dated) To knead with the feet: marcher l'argile.^[6][8]

Word family

• marcheur
• démarche
• marchepied

Related words

• border
• côtoyer
• courir
• longer
• promener
• marquer
• English march

Usage notes

The infinitive used as a noun, le marcher, “the way one walks”, dates from 1538.^[6][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF