moudre

Forms

moudre^[1] Old French moldre, mouldre; the spelling moudre is found from the 13th century.^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French moudre, inherited from Latin molō (“to grind, turn the millstone”), from mola (“millstone”).^{[4][5][6][1][7]} The infinitive was at first *molre, and the ⟨d⟩ is a glide inserted between /l/ and /r/, as in moindre and gendre; the ⟨d⟩ of the present tense forms is only analogical, as in coudre².^[1][3]

Cognate with Old Occitan molre, Catalan moldre, Spanish moler and Portuguese moer.^[8][9][10] The Petit Robert traces the Latin word to an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *mel- (“to grind”), also seen in Ancient Greek μύλη (múlē, “millstone”), German mahlen and the English words meal and mill.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1135 in the Couronnement de Louis, in the past participle: fers moluz “well-sharpened blades”.^[4][5] The sense of grinding appears about 1165, with or molu “gold ground to powder” for gilding, and in 1174 for grain.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The old sense “to sharpen” survives only in émoulu.^[5] From powdered gold and grain, moudre was applied to coffee as well.^[5] By likeness to what the grain undergoes, the past participle meant “bruised by blows” before 1300, and the verb “to beat soundly”.^[4][5]

In the 19th century, from the turning of the mill, it came to mean playing a tune on an instrument worked by a crank, such as the barrel organ (1867).^[5][2] It is now defective in use, mostly found in the infinitive, the future and the participle moulu.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1135 – Fers moluz “sharpened blades” in the Couronnement de Louis.^[4]
• c. 1165 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure has or molu, powdered gold for gilding.^[4]
• 1174 – Garnier de Pont-Sainte-Maxence uses it for grinding grain.^[4]
• 1260 – Moudre le blé in Étienne Boileau's Livre des métiers.^[4]
• late 13th century – The participle means “bruised by blows” in a fabliau.^[4][5]
• 1481 – The compound remoudre “to grind again” is recorded.^[5]
• 1867 – Delvau records moudre un air “to grind out a tune”.^[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To grind grain, coffee or spices into powder with a mill: moudre des grains de poivre.^[10][4][1]
2. (rare) To thrash, to beat soundly: moudre quelqu'un de coups.^[10][2]
3. (dated) Moudre un air: to play a tune on a crank instrument such as a barrel organ.^[10][2]

Word family

• remoudre
• vermoulu
• moulu

Related words

• meule¹
• moulin
• meunier
• mouture
• émoulu
• rémouleur
• Latin molō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3, 29b
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
10. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert