Etymologically
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plonger

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /plɔ̃.ʒe/[1]

Forms

plonger[1] Old French plongier, plungier.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French plongier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *plumbicō (“to weight with lead”),[4][5][6][7][1] derived from plumbum (“lead”) (see plomb); the verb was first said of nets and sounding lines weighted with lead to sink them to the bottom.[5][6][2] It is found only in French, but its origin is confirmed by Picard plonquer and by the bird name plongeon.[5][6]

Littré compares Walloon plonki, from plonk (“lead”), and Italian piombare (“to fall plumb”), and rejects a Celtic origin.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire (1121–34) has the reflexive, “to dive into the water”.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The intransitive (Wace, 1160–74) means “to jump into the water”, specialized in swimming from the mid-19th century; the transitive “to immerse” (1135) and the sense of a ship sinking (about 1160) are also of the 12th century.[4][5] Without the idea of water it meant to thrust a weapon into the body (1188), of a person to go deep into something (about 1200), and of a bird to swoop (1376), later of an aircraft (1926).[4][5]

Se plonger “to give oneself up to an occupation” is in Amyot (1559), se plonger dans un livre in Fromentin (1863), and the transitive “to put someone in a state” in Belleau (1577).[4][5] It was used of a downward gaze (1790) and of a person looking intently (1830).[4] In 19th-century popular use it meant to fall into poverty or lose money at gambling (1868), and in slang to be jailed (1938); in sport, a goalkeeper's dive (1913).[5][4] plongeur (13th century) took the sense of a dishwasher in 1867.[6]

Timeline

  • 1121–34 – Se plonger “to dive”, Philippe de Thaon.[4]
  • 1135 – Transitive “to immerse”.[4]
  • c. 1160 – Of a ship sinking, Eneas.[4]
  • 1188 – “To thrust a weapon”, Aimon de Varennes.[4]
  • 1376 – Of a bird swooping.[4]
  • 1559 – Se plonger in an occupation, Amyot.[4]
  • 1913 – A goalkeeper's dive.[4]
  • 1938 – “To be jailed”, slang.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To plunge, immerse in a liquid: plonger les doigts dans l'eau.[8][1]
  2. To thrust deep: plonger un poignard dans le cœur, plonger ses racines dans le sol.[8]
  3. To put someone into a state.[4][1]
  4. To dive into water; of a submarine, to submerge; of a bird or aircraft, to swoop down.[1][4]
  5. (sport) Of a goalkeeper, to dive for the ball.[4][5]
  6. Of a gaze, to look down from above.[4]
  7. Se plonger dans: to immerse oneself in: se plonger dans un livre.[1][4]
  8. (slang) To be sent to prison.[5]

Word family

  • plongée
  • plongeur
  • plonge
  • plongeoir
  • plongement
  • replonger

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert