orfèvre

Forms

orfèvre m or f by sense (plural orfèvres, feminine orfèvresse)^[1] Old French orfevre, formed with fevre “smith”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Old French or (“gold”) + fevre (“craftsman working metal, smith”).^[2][3][1] The second part, recorded about 1170, is from Latin faber (“workman, craftsman”), and it took the place of the outcome of Latin aurifex (“goldsmith”), a compound of aurum (“gold”) and faciō (“to make”).^[2][3][4] The Latin compound survived in the south of France, in Italy and in Iberia (Italian orefice, Portuguese ourives).^[3][2]

Bloch and Wartburg explain the change: in French the regular outcome of the Latin word would have been a form that could not be analysed, so it was remade from two parts that everyone understood.^[5] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert instead describe the word as the Latin compound remade after fevre.^[6][7] The simple word was later ousted by forgeron and by the compound itself, and lives on only in surnames such as Fèvre, Lefèvre, Faure and Fabre.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1210 in the Dolopathos, meaning a craftsman who works gold and other precious metals.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the sense of an artisan who makes or sells finely worked objects of precious metal: ornaments, tableware, church plate.^[2][3] From the precision and quality of such work comes the 19th-century phrase être orfèvre en la matière “to be an expert in the matter”.^[3][8]

Vous êtes orfèvre, Monsieur Josse “your advice is not disinterested” alludes to Molière's L'Amour médecin (I, 1), where the goldsmith Josse suggests a present of jewels.^[3][7] The derivative orfèvrerie is older than the simple word in the record (orfavrerie, 1170), and once also named the goldsmiths' guild, one of the six merchant bodies of Paris.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – Old French fevre “metalworker, smith” is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1170 – The derivative orfavrerie (later orfèvrerie) appears.^[3]
• c. 1210 – Orfèvre is first recorded, in the Dolopathos.^[2][8]
• before 1825 – Paul-Louis Courier uses vous êtes orfèvre, Monsieur Josse.^[8]
• before 1869 – Sainte-Beuve uses être orfèvre “to be an expert”.^[8]
• 1859 – The adjective orfévré “worked by a goldsmith” is recorded.^[3]
• 1957 – The verb orfévrer is recorded.^[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A goldsmith or silversmith: a craftsman who makes, or a dealer who sells, ornaments and tableware of precious metal.^[2][7][1]
2. Être orfèvre en la matière: to be an expert in a subject, to know it thoroughly.^[7][8]
3. Vous êtes orfèvre, Monsieur Josse: said to someone whose advice serves their own interest.^[7][8]

Word family

• orfèvrerie
• orfévrer

Related words

• or¹
• forgeron
• fabriquer
• Latin faber
• Latin aurifex

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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, 342a
5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse