peigner

Forms

peigner^[1] Old French paignier, peignier, pignier, pinier; the spelling peigner dates from the 14th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French paignier, inherited from Latin pectinō (“to comb the hair, to harrow”), a derivative of pecten (“comb”) that replaced the older verb pectō.^[2][3][5][1] In Old French it was more often pignier or pinier, after pigne “comb” and the stressed forms of the verb.^[3][6]

Cognate with Italian pettinare, Spanish peinar, Portuguese pentear, Catalan pentinar, Occitan penchenar and Romanian pieptăna.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as the reflexive soi paignier “to comb one's hair” in Chrétien de Troyes's Chevalier de la charrette (1176–1181):^[2][3] Es dens del peigne ot des chevos Celi qui s'en estoit peigniée “in the teeth of the comb there were hairs of the lady who had combed herself with it”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Chrétien's Perceval (1174–1187) already extends it to currying a horse and, by analogy, to carding cloth fibres; the textile sense is well recorded in the cloth-making regions of Champagne (1243) and the north (Douai, 1250).^[2][3] The past participle became an adjective for textiles (chanvre peigné, 1671, laine peignée, 1690) and a noun for combed wool cloth (1874).^[2][3]

From the 13th century the verb also had figurative senses: in Montaigne (about 1590) “to dress up, to disguise”, then “to make neat and trim”, as of a garden (1690).^[2][3] About 1200 the Roman de Renart uses it for “to thrash”, and the reflexive se peigner “to fight” is recorded from 1640;^[2][3][9] the noun peignée “a thrashing” followed in 1808.^[2][6]

Timeline

• 1176–1181 – Soi paignier “to comb one's hair” in the Chevalier de la charrette.^[2]
• 1174–1187 – Chrétien de Troyes's Perceval uses it for currying a horse and carding cloth.^[2]
• c. 1200 – The Roman de Renart uses pignier for “to thrash”.^[2]
• 1243 – Piniier la laine is recorded in Champagne.^[2]
• c. 1590 – Montaigne uses it for “to dress up, to disguise”.^[2][3]
• 1640 – Oudin records se peigner “to fight”.^[2][9]
• 1690 – Furetière records laine peignée and jardin bien peigné.^[2]
• 1808 – Se donner une bonne peignée is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To comb (hair, a beard), to comb someone's hair; by analogy, to comb a dog or a horse's mane.^[10][2]
2. To comb or card textile fibres: peigner le lin.^[10][2]
3. (figurative, dated) To polish with excessive care; still used in the past participle, peigné.^[10]
4. Se peigner (familiar, dated): to fight, to come to blows.^[2][9]

Word family

• peigné
• peigneur
• peignure
• peignoir
• peignée
• dépeigner

Related words

• peigne
• Latin pecten

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 q r s 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 105a
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert