pincette

Forms

pincette f (plural pincettes)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French pince + -ette, a diminutive of the noun.^[2][1][3] The noun is a derivative of pincer, which Bloch and Wartburg call an expressive word, like piquer.^[4] Meyer-Lübke puts it under a Vulgar Latin *pinctiō, an imitative verb meaning to prick or nip.^[5]

Compare Italian pinzetta,^[1][5] Provençal pinsadoiras^[5] and Walloon pissett.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1321, in a document, for a small iron instrument with two arms used to pick up objects.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant a small pincer.^[2][3] From the 16th century it named the long two-armed iron tongs used to stir the fire and move the logs and embers, chiefly in the plural les pincettes (1631).^[3][2] The plural entered familiar phrases: in 1835 the Académie recorded that a very dirty thing or person could not be touched with tongs, and ne pas être à prendre avec des pincettes “to be in a foul temper” is found in Labiche in 1852.^[2][3] One also says that something must be taken avec des pincettes, that is, with caution.^[7]

In slang it shared with pince the sense “legs” (1867), first in the phrase affûter ses pincettes “to run away” (1866); later the plural also meant handcuffs.^[3][2] In Swiss French it has been used for a clothes peg since 1861.^[3] Littré also records an old phrase for kissing someone while gently holding both cheeks between the fingertips.^[6]

Timeline

• 1321 – First recorded, for a small two-armed iron instrument.^[2][4]
• 1560 – Used for fire tongs.^[3][7]
• 1631 – The plural pincettes is recorded for the fire tongs.^[2][3]
• 1835 – The Académie records that a very dirty thing could not be touched with tongs.^[2]
• 1852 – Labiche writes of a person à ne pas prendre avec des pincettes.^[2]
• 1861 – First record in Swiss French for a clothes peg.^[3]
• 1866 – Affûter ses pincettes “to run away” appears in slang.^[2][3]
• 1867 – Delvau records the plural for “legs”.^[2][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small pair of tweezers or pincers, as used by watchmakers.^[7][8][1]
2. (usually plural) Fire tongs, a long two-armed tool for stirring the fire and moving logs and embers.^[7][8][1]
3. Ne pas être à prendre avec des pincettes: (familiar) to be filthy, or to be in a very bad mood and unapproachable.^[7][8]
4. Prendre avec des pincettes: to treat something with great caution.^[7][1]
5. (slang, plural) Legs.^[8][3]
6. (Switzerland) A clothes peg.^[3]

Word family

• épinceter

Related words

• pince
• pincer

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ 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 Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse