morsure

Forms

morsure f (plural morsures)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French mors + -ure, the noun being taken in its first sense, a bite.^[2][3][4][5] That noun is from Latin morsus (“a bite”), the verbal noun of mordeō (“to bite”).^[4] When the base came to name the horse's bit and other gripping things, the derivative took over its first sense, and it is still felt as the action noun of mordre.^[5] Wiktionary instead derives it from Early Medieval Latin morsūra, and Littré from the Latin supine morsum.^[1][6]

Cognate with Italian morsura, Old Occitan morsura and Catalan morsura.^[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is in the Fet des Romains (1213), for the act of biting.^[2][8] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has the word from the first third of the 12th century, for a bite and the wound it leaves.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Rutebeuf wrote in the 13th century of the devil having bitten him de mauvèse morsure.^[6] Paré used it about 1560 for the sting or bite of animals such as the viper.^[8][6]

By analogy with mordre it was used for the action of corrosive substances (1736, Rollin, morsures du sel et du vinaigre) and of frost (1814, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre).^[2][5] Littré also gives the figurative sense of the bite of slander, and Cotgrave the proverb telle dent, telle morsure.^[6]

Timeline

• 1213 – First recorded in the Fet des Romains.^[2]
• c. 1560 – Paré uses it for an animal's bite or sting.^[8]
• 1736 – Rollin uses it for the action of salt and vinegar.^[2]
• 1814 – Bernardin de Saint-Pierre writes of morsure des gelées.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bite, the act of biting; by extension an insect's bite or piqûre: la morsure d'un serpent.^[10][11][12]
2. The wound or mark left by a bite.^[10][12]
3. (figurative) A biting, harmful effect, as of cold or wind: la morsure du gel.^[12][2]
4. (engraving) The etching of the uncovered parts of a copper plate with acid.^[10][12]

Related words

• mordre
• mors
• morceau
• Latin mordeō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
12. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)