nourrice

Forms

nourrice f (plural nourrices)^[1] Old French nurrice and norrice, then nourice (1283), Middle French nourrisse (1485) and nourrice (1675).^[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French nurrice, inherited from Late Latin nūtrīcia, the feminine, used as a noun, of Latin nūtrīcius (“nourishing, rearing”),^{[4][2][5][3][6]} a derivative of nūtrīx (“nurse”), from nūtriō (“to nourish”).^[7][2] Littré notes that it cannot come from the accusative nūtrīcem, since nouns in ⟨-īcem⟩ gave ⟨-is⟩ in Old French.^[8]

Rey explains the Latin noun as formed with the suffix seen in obstetrix on the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *sneu- (“to suckle”).^[2] Cognate with Old Occitan noirissa.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as nurrice about 1140 in Geffrei Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis, meaning a woman who breastfeeds a child.^[4][2][7]

Semantic evolution

The word entered the phrase metre enfant a nourice “put a child out to nurse” (1283, Beaumanoir) and was used in apposition in mère nourrice (1485).^[4][2] The classical phrase enfant changé en nourrice (1675, Mme de Sévigné) refers to the swapping of babies while they were with a nurse, and La Bruyère used battre sa nourrice figuratively in 1689.^[4][2] The word was most common from the 17th to the 19th century, when well-off families sent their children to wet nurses in the country.^[2] Nourrice sèche (1876) named a woman paid to look after a child without suckling it.^[4][2]

It also meant a woman who had once nursed someone (1578) and the nurse's part in a play (1762, Rousseau).^[4][2] Metaphorically it was “what nourishes” (1485); it was used of a female animal feeding her young (1558, Du Bellay) and, in beekeeping, of the worker bee that rears the larvae (1845).^[4][2] The idea of supplying liquid gave technical senses: a suction pump (18th century), then a reserve tank (1903).^[2] Familiar French shortened it to nounou by childish doubling;^[2] Rey dates this 1857, Bloch and Wartburg 1867.^[2][5]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – Nurrice appears in Geffrei Gaimar.^[4]
• 1283 – Beaumanoir writes metre enfant a nourice.^[4][2]
• 1485 – Mère nourrisse and the figurative sense “what nourishes” appear in the Mistère du Viel Testament.^[4][2]
• 1558 – Du Bellay uses it of a female animal.^[4][2]
• 1675 – Mme de Sévigné writes enfant changé en nourrice.^[4][2]
• 1689 – La Bruyère uses battre sa nourrice.^[4]
• 1762 – Rousseau uses it for the nurse's role in the theatre.^[4][2]
• 1876 – Nourrice sèche is recorded in the Journal officiel.^[4][2]
• 1903 – It names a reserve tank.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A wet nurse, a woman who breastfeeds a child, especially one paid to nurse another woman's child.^[9][10]
2. Mettre un enfant en nourrice: to put a child out to nurse.^[9][8]
3. A woman who once nursed someone, also the nurse as a confidante in ancient drama.^[9]
4. A childminder, a woman paid to look after young children in her home during the day.^[10][1]
5. (familiar) A person above suspicion who, for payment, hides drugs, money or weapons for a dealer.^[10][1]
6. A reserve tank or can for a liquid, such as fuel.^[2]
7. (butchery) A cut of beef from near the kneecap, used for stew.^[10]
8. (salt making) A basin holding concentrated sea water before it goes into the crystallizing pans.^[10]

Word family

• nourricier
• nounou
• nourricerie

Related words

• nourrir
• Latin nūtrīx

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 r s t u v Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 247b
7. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)