mouiller

Forms

mouiller^[1] Old French moillier (about 1050); the spelling mouiller from the late 14th century (Eustache Deschamps).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French moillier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *molliō (“to soften”), properly “to soften bread by soaking it”, then “to soak, to moisten”.^{[5][6][2][7][1]} Rey derives it from Latin mollia (“breadcrumb”), from the adjective mollis (“soft”) (see mou); Bloch and Wartburg derive it from the adjective directly and think the verb was made when the Germanic peoples brought soup into use.^[5][6] The GLLF calls it an alteration of Classical Latin molliō (“to make supple”).^[3]

Cognate with Spanish mojar, Portuguese molhar and Old Occitan molhar.^[6][8][1] In the southeast it now competes with the type baigner.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has it as “to soak”: si moilent sun liçon (“and they soak his sheet”), of the servants who throw water on the saint.^[9][8]

Semantic evolution

The verb first meant “to soak, to make wet” (about 1050), then, with a liquid as subject, “to wet” (about 1165), especially of tears (about 1155).^[9][5] The intransitive sense “to be wet with sweat from fear”, whence “to be afraid”, is found from the late 14th century.^[5]

At sea mouiller l'ancre “to drop anchor” is recorded from 1598, and the intransitive le navire mouille from 1667.^[5] In the 17th century it entered phonetics, “to palatalize a consonant” (1690), and cooking, “to add liquid while cooking” (1691).^[5][4] Later uses include se mouiller “to compromise oneself” (1866), mouiller son vin “to water one's wine” (1874), the sexual sense (1887), mouiller sa chemise “to work hard” (1888) and “to be afraid” (1936).^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Moillier “to soak” appears in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[9][3]
• c. 1155 – Wace uses it of tears wetting a face.^[9]
• late 14th century – The spelling mouiller appears in Eustache Deschamps.^[3][2]
• 1598 – Mouiller l'ancre “to drop anchor” is recorded.^[5]
• 1636 – The impersonal sense “to rain” is recorded.^[4]
• 1690 – It is used in phonetics for palatalizing a consonant.^[5][4]
• 1691 – It is used in cooking.^[5]
• 1866 – Se mouiller “to compromise oneself” appears in slang.^[5]
• 1888 – Mouiller sa chemise “to work hard” is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To wet, to moisten, to soak: mouiller un torchon.^[4][10] Mouiller sa chemise: to work hard.^[4][10]
2. (cooking) To add a liquid to a dish while it cooks: mouiller la sauce avec du vin rouge.^[4][1]
3. To dilute with water: mouiller son pastis.^[4]
4. (nautical) To put into the water: mouiller l'ancre, mouiller une mine.^[4][1] (intransitive) To anchor: le voilier mouille dans la baie.^[4][1]
5. (phonetics) To palatalize a consonant.^[4][1]
6. (figurative, familiar) To implicate someone in an affair.^[4]
7. (impersonal, regional or dated) To rain: il mouille.^[4][10][1] Used in western France, around Lyon and in Canada.^[4][10][1]
8. (intransitive, slang) To be scared stiff.^[4][1] (vulgar) To be sexually aroused.^[4][1]
9. (pronominal) Se mouiller: to get wet.^[4][1] (familiar) To take a risk, to stick one's neck out.^[4][1]

Word family

• mouillage
• mouillère
• mouillette
• mouilleur
• mouillure
• pattemouille
• remouiller

Related words

• mollir
• mou
• Latin mollis

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3, 43b
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d 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
10. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)