morfondre

Forms

morfondre^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Occitan morfondre (also marfondre), said of a horse that catches a catarrh, recorded in the accounts of Albi in 1359–60.^[2][3][4] The Occitan verb is a compound of mor “snout, muzzle”, a word especially alive in the south (compare morailles), and the verb corresponding to fondre “to melt”.^[2][3] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert cite Provençal mourre “snout”, from an expressive root for the snout,^[5][6] and the GLLF likewise takes the first element from an expressive root for the snout or muzzle.^[7] Wiktionary instead derives the first part from Franco-Provençal mor and Vulgar Latin *murrum (“muzzle, snout”), and the second from Latin fundō (“to pour, melt”).^[1]

Littré records older explanations, from mort¹ “death” or, as Ménage held, from morve “glanders”, since the word first belonged to veterinary medicine.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Froissart's Chroniques, at the end of the 14th century, use it intransitively of horses becoming catarrhal after the heat of the day.^[2][8] A cheval morfondu is recorded in 1407.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Brought into French as a term of veterinary medicine, the verb spread to people: intransitive “to catch cold” (1460–66) and the participle morfondu “chilled through” (1524).^[2][3] In this sense it began to be used reflexively (1512) and transitively, “to chill” (1573).^[2][3]

From the cold of waiting came the sense “to wait long and wearily, to waste one's time” (1574), and by a further psychological shift “to fret, to be dissatisfied”, which is the only common modern use of se morfondre.^[3][6] Since 1690 bakers have used it of dough that ferments badly or too little.^[3][8] In Canadian French it keeps a physical sense, “to wear oneself out, ruin one's health”.^[3]

The noun morfondure (1393), a veterinary term, has largely gone out of use, and morfondement (Oudin, 1655) remained exceptional.^[3]

Timeline

• 1359–60 – Old Occitan marfondre, morfondre is recorded at Albi, of horses.^[2][3]
• Late 14th century – Froissart uses it of horses catching a catarrh.^[2]
• 1393 – The noun morfondure appears as a veterinary term.^[3]
• 1407 – Cheval morfondu is recorded.^[2]
• 1460–66 – Martial d'Auvergne uses it for “to catch cold”.^[2][3]
• 1512 – First reflexive use, of vines frozen by frost, in Gringore.^[2]
• 1574 – Mellin de Saint-Gelais uses se morfondre for waiting long and wearily.^[2][3]
• 1585 – Noël du Fail has it intransitively for “to be bored”.^[2]
• 1690 – The baking sense “to ferment badly” is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive) Se morfondre: to wait in boredom, to mope, il se morfondait dans le couloir.^[6][9]
2. (reflexive) To be sunk in worry and gloom, to fret.^[6]
3. (transitive, dated) To chill someone through, cette bruine nous morfond.^[2][5]
4. (veterinary, obsolete) To give a horse a catarrh.^[8][5]
5. (baking) Of dough, to lose its power of fermentation.^[8][3]

Related words

• fondre
• morailles

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 865a
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)