pincer

Forms

pincer^[1] Old French pincier.^[2][3] Anglo-Norman also pincher and pyncer.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pincier, formed from an expressive stem *pints-, which suggests a quick, sudden grip.^[5][2][6] Bloch and Wartburg call it an expressive word like piquer, and note that the Gallo-Romance dialects also used the variants ⟨piss-⟩ and ⟨pits-⟩, from which comes Occitan pessugar.^[7] The Grand Robert calls the origin uncertain.^[8]

Meyer-Lübke instead set up Vulgar Latin *pinctiare (“to sting, pinch”), an imitative word,^[9] and Rey mentions the view that this is *punctiare (“to prick”), from punctum (“point”), altered under the influence of the expressive stem of that verb.^[2] Similar verbs are Italian pinzare (“to sting (of an insect)”) and Spanish pinchar (“to prick”).^[5][2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Benoît de Sainte-Maure's Roman de Troie (about 1165) the word is used figuratively, of love seizing a person: Pinciez sera d'Amors e mors “he will be pinched and bitten by Love”.^[5][2] The concrete sense, nipping the skin between the fingers, is in the Roman de Renart in 1178.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Middle French the verb also meant to touch amorously (about 1266) and, figuratively, to rob or seize (about 1200), a sense close to “to arrest” (end of the 14th century in Eustache Deschamps, rare before 1732) and “to catch in the act” (1798).^[2][5] The old figurative sense of love survives, through “to have a smattering of something” (1580), in en pincer pour (1809 of a thing, 1869 of a person) and être pincé “to be smitten” (1885).^[2][5]

From the 16th century it meant to pluck a stringed instrument (1552, Ronsard pincer la lyre) and, of a physical cause, to give sharp pain (1588, Montaigne: la mort qui me pince).^[5][2] It entered gardening (1676), bookbinding (1701) and tailoring (1831, pincer la taille 1834).^[5][2] Since 1690 it has also meant to press the lips or nose tight;^[2] pincer les lèvres and pincer le bec express displeasure or prudishness.^[2] Le froid pince dates from 1833 and ça pince “it is bitterly cold” from 1835.^[5] English pinch comes from an Old North French form of the verb, from the early 13th century.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – Figurative pincier in the Roman de Troie.^[5]
• 1178 – Pinching the skin, in the Roman de Renart.^[5]
• early 13th century – English borrows it as pinch.^[10]
• late 14th century – “To arrest” in Eustache Deschamps.^[5]
• 1552 – Ronsard writes pincer la lyre.^[5]
• 1588 – Montaigne uses it of the pain of death.^[5]
• 1676 – A gardening term.^[5]
• 1690 – Mme de Sévigné writes pincer le nez.^[5]
• 1798 – The Académie records “to catch in the act”.^[5]
• 1809 – En pincer pour something.^[5]
• 1835 – Ça pince “it is very cold”.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To pinch, to squeeze a part of the body between the fingertips or between the jaws of a tool: elle lui a pincé le bras.^[3][5]
2. To pluck the strings of an instrument: instrument à cordes pincées.^[3]
3. Of cold, to nip or bite;^[3][5] ça pince (familiar): it is bitterly cold.^[3][5]
4. To press tight so as to narrow: pincer les lèvres, se pincer le nez; in sewing, to take in a garment with darts.^[3]
5. (gardening) To pinch out the shoots of a plant.^[3][5]
6. En pincer pour quelqu'un (familiar): to be in love with someone.^[3]
7. (familiar) To nab, to arrest, or to catch in the act: se faire pincer.^[3][1]

Word family

• pince
• pincée
• pincement
• pincette
• pinçon
• pince-maille
• pince-nez
• pince-sans-rire
• repincer
• pinçage
• pinçoter

Related words

• piquer
• English pinch

Usage notes

Pince-moi, je rêve ! is a familiar way of saying that something is hard to believe.^[3] Littré describes an old game, je vous pince sans rire, in which the one pinched had to keep from laughing.^[11]

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w 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
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 541b
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette