pêcheur

Forms

pêcheur m (plural pêcheurs, feminine pêcheuse)^[1] Old French pescheür, pescheor, with the subject-case form pescherre.^[2][3][4] The spelling pêcheur is recorded in 1636, in Monet's dictionary.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pescheor, inherited from Latin piscātor (“fisherman”), in its accusative piscātōrem.^[2][5][3][1] The Latin word is the agent noun of piscor (“to fish”),^[2][5][4] itself from piscis (“fish”).^[6][3]

Old French also had pescherre, from the Latin nominative, beside the form from the accusative; only the object-case form survived.^[4] The Provençal dialects still keep both, using Occitan pescaire for someone who fishes for pleasure and pescadour for the professional fisherman.^[5]

Cognate with Old Occitan pescador, Spanish pescador and Italian pescatore.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1140, as pescheür, in Geoffroi Gaimar's history of the English, meaning a fisherman.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word has always named a person who fishes, whether for a living or for pleasure.^[5][2] From the end of the 13th century the biblical phrase pêcheurs d'hommes (Matthew 4:19, Mark 1:17) was used of those who win converts to Christianity.^[2][5] Old proverbs played on the word, such as à grand pescheur eschappe anguille “even a great fisherman loses an eel”, recorded by Cotgrave.^[4]

The feminine pescheuse appears in the early 17th century,^[2][6] and the word was used as an adjective of peoples (1776) and of boats (1797).^[2][5] Rey notes that French, unlike the Provençal dialects, has a single word both for the angler, a symbol of leisure and of political indifference (le parti des pêcheurs à la ligne), and for the professional sea fisherman.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – Pescheür appears in Geoffroi Gaimar.^[2]
• c. 1155 – Wace writes pescheor.^[3]
• Late 13th century – Peschëors d'omes “fishers of men” is used in a Bible translation.^[2][5]
• 1609 – First record of the feminine pescheuse.^[2][5]
• 1636 – Monet's dictionary spells it pêcheur.^[3]
• 1776 – First used as an adjective, in peuples pêcheurs.^[2]
• 1797 – Bateaux pêcheurs “fishing boats” is recorded.^[2]
• 1903 – Larousse records nœud de pêcheur.^[3]
• 1963 – Larousse records pêcheur sous-marin.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who fishes, as a trade or for pleasure; a fisherman.^[7][2][3]
2. Pêcheur à la ligne: an angler.^[7][3]
3. A person who gathers sea produce, as in pêcheurs de perles, pêcheurs de corail.^[7]
4. Pêcheur sous-marin: a person who practises spearfishing or underwater fishing.^[3]
5. (figurative) Pêcheurs d'hommes: apostles and missionaries who win converts to Christianity.^[7][2]
6. Nœud de pêcheur: a knot used to join two ends of fishing line.^[3]

Adjective

1. That fishes, used of people and boats: bateau pêcheur, marin pêcheur.^[7][2]

Related words

• pêcher¹
• pêche²
• Latin piscātor

Usage notes

L'anneau du pêcheur “the fisherman's ring” is the papal seal, named after Saint Peter, who had been a fisherman.^[4] The word may sound the same as pécheur “sinner”.^[7]

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 k l m n o p 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 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert