marrant

Forms

marrant (feminine marrante, masculine plural marrants, feminine plural marrantes)^[1]

Etymology

It is from French marrer + -ant, the present participle of the pronominal verb “to laugh heartily” used as an adjective.^[2][3][1][4]

The origin of the verb is uncertain.^[2][3] The TLFi and Rey take the modern verb to be probably an ironic reversal of an older slang verb of the same form, first spelled with one ⟨r⟩ (1883), meaning “to be bored”, a view supported by early uses (1916) for laughing at something that would normally not be funny.^[2][3] That older verb they derive, with hesitation, from Spanish mareo (“seasickness, boredom”) and marear (“to annoy”), related to mar (“sea”), with the same shift of meaning as in noise from Latin nausea (“seasickness”).^[2][3] The FEW instead derives it from marre “enough”, an explanation Rey finds no less likely and the TLFi rejects.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1901 in the slang of Aristide Bruant, as an adjective meaning “amusing”.^[2][3][5]

Semantic evolution

From the start the adjective has had two meanings, “funny” and “odd, surprising”: the second is dated 1915 by the GLLF, after Esnault, and the negative c'est pas marrant “it's no fun” to the early 20th century.^[5][3] Used as a noun, un marrant, un petit marrant, it names a person who makes others laugh, recorded by the GLLF in 1915 and by the TLFi in 1935.^[5][2][3]

Among the related slang nouns, marrade, modelled on rigolade, replaced marance and marage (both 1890) in the 1950s.^[3]

Timeline

• 1883 – The slang verb se marer “to be bored” is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1889 – Se marrer “to laugh one's fill” appears in G. Macé.^[2]
• 1901 – Marrant “amusing” is first found in Bruant.^[2][3][4]
• 1915 – Esnault records the sense “strange, surprising” and the noun.^[5]
• 1935 – The TLFi's first date for the noun.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (familiar) funny, amusing: Ton cousin est vraiment marrant.^[6][2][1]
2. (familiar) odd, surprising: C'est marrant qu'elle ne soit pas venue.^[6][5]
3. C'est pas marrant: it is no fun, it is annoying.^[5][2]

Noun

1. (familiar) A joker, someone who keeps others amused: un petit marrant.^[5][3]

Related words

• marrer
• marrade

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 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 g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert