marrer

Forms

marrer^[1] The first record (1883) is spelled se marer.^[2][3]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.^[2][3] The verb is first recorded in 1883, spelled with one ⟨r⟩ and meaning “to be bored”, and the TLFi and Rey take the present sense “to laugh heartily” to have come from it by antiphrasis, a reading supported by the early uses of the reflexive verb for laughing at something that would not normally make one laugh.^[2][3] The older verb is probably borrowed from Spanish marear (“to bore”) (18th century), beside mareo (“seasickness, boredom”) and the reflexive marearse (“to be seasick”) (17th century), words related to mar (“sea”).^[2][3] The shift from seasickness to boredom would be the same as in noise, from Latin nausea (“seasickness”).^[2][3] Wiktionary gives the chain as “to get dizzy”, then “to be bored”, then “to be amused”.^[1]

The Robert dictionaries derive the verb from marre,^[4][5] and Rey mentions the idea of laughing at a thing that ought to exasperate, though he finds it no more certain than the Spanish origin;^[3] the TLFi prefers the Spanish word to that derivation.^[2] The GLLF instead sees in it a variant of the old verb marrir (“to grieve”) (see marri).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1883 G. Macé, cited by Esnault, records se marer meaning “to be bored”;^[2][3] Esnault also gives the sense “to laugh one's fill” for the same year, with a query, and Macé uses it in 1889.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to be bored” went out of use, and a transitive marrer “to bore” is recorded in 1910.^[2][3] The laughing sense spread through soldiers' speech of the First World War: in 1916 Barbusse uses it for laughing at something that does not usually call for laughter, as Dorgelès does in 1919.^[2][6] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert date the present sense from 1920 and the earlier “to be bored” from 1886.^[4][5]

The verb is familiar for having great fun and laughing without restraint, and it is also used in faire marrer (someone) “to make someone laugh”.^[3][5] Its present participle gave the adjective marrant (1901, in Bruant), “funny” and also “odd”; the nouns marance and marage (1890) were followed in the 1950s by marrade, formed like rigolade.^[3]

Timeline

• 1883 – Se marer “to be bored” appears in G. Macé's notes, cited by Esnault.^[2][3]
• 1889 – G. Macé uses the sense “to laugh one's fill”.^[2][3]
• 1890 – The nouns marance and marage are recorded.^[3]
• 1901 – The adjective marrant appears in Bruant.^[3]
• 1910 – A transitive marrer “to bore” is recorded.^[2]
• 1916 – Barbusse, in Le Feu, uses it for laughing at something that does not usually make people laugh.^[2][3]
• 1919 – Dorgelès uses se marrer and faire marrer.^[6]
• 1950s – Marrade replaces the earlier derived nouns.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive, familiar) To have great fun, to laugh without restraint: Nous nous sommes bien marrés à la fête.^[2][5][1]
2. (reflexive, familiar) To laugh at something that would not usually make one laugh.^[2][6]
3. Faire marrer (someone): to make someone laugh, to amuse them: Ton cousin me fait marrer.^[3][5][6]

Word family

• marrant
• marrade

Related words

• marre
• rigoler
• Spanish marear

Usage notes

A different verb marrer “to hoe”, from marre “vine-dresser's hoe”, is a regional and technical word with a separate origin: Bloch and Wartburg date it to the 13th century, and Littré quotes it from Olivier de Serres in the 16th century.^[7][8][1] The pronominal verb is the usual entry form, se marrer.^[2][5]

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 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 m n o p q r 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette