percher

Forms

percher^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French perche² + -er, from the noun for a “long pole”.^[2][3][4][5] That noun comes from Latin pertica (“pole”).^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Grand Robert and the GLLF find it in 1314, in Henri de Mondeville, meaning “to stand upright”.^[3][7] The TLFi's first record is from 1376, in the Livres du Roy Modus, of a bird holding itself on a support.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

Used at first of birds, the verb was also reflexive from 1377 (se percher).^[2][8] In the 16th century it could mean “to hang” someone.^[5] From 1606 it was said of anything placed high up, and in 1630 percher quelqu'un meant to set someone in a good position, a use that has died out.^[2][8] It was applied to a town in 1762 and to a person lodged high up in 1833 (Balzac); by allusion to perching birds it came to mean “to live” in familiar speech (1842).^[2][8]

Technical senses are “to stake a vine” (Olivier de Serres, 1600) and, in metallurgy, “to plunge poles of green wood into molten metal to remove impurities” (1927).^[2][8]

Timeline

• 1314 – Henri de Mondeville uses it for “to stand upright”.^[3][7]
• 1376 – Said of a bird perching, in the Livres du Roy Modus.^[2]
• 1377 – The reflexive se percher appears in Gace de la Buigne.^[2]
• 1584 – The derivative perchoir is recorded.^[8]
• 1600 – Olivier de Serres uses it for staking vines.^[2][5]
• 1606 – Used for being in a high place.^[2]
• 1630 – Agrippa d'Aubigné uses it for placing someone in a good position.^[2]
• 1833 – Balzac uses it for lodging high up.^[2]
• 1842 – Recorded in the sense “to live”.^[2][8]
• 1927 – A metallurgical sense appears.^[2][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) Of a bird, to perch, to sit on a branch or other support above the ground.^[9][2]
2. (intransitive, familiar) Of a person, to live or lodge, especially high up: Où tu perches ?^[9][8]
3. (transitive, familiar) To put something in a high place: Qui a perché la boîte sur l'étagère ?^[9]
4. Se percher: to settle or climb onto a high spot.^[9]
5. (film, sound engineering) To operate a microphone boom.^[1]

Word family

• perchoir
• percheur
• perchage

Related words

• perche²
• jucher

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 278a
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 d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert