poudre

Forms

poudre f (plural poudres)^[1] Old French puldre, then pudre (about 1155) and poudre (about 1160); also porre.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French puldre, inherited from Latin pulverem (“dust”), the accusative of the Latin noun.^[5][2][6][7] Wiktionary takes it from the Late Latin neuter plural pulvera.^[1] The Latin word is perhaps from an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“dust, flour”), also seen in Latin pollen (“fine flour”).^[2][8]

Cognate with Romanian pudră, Italian polvere, Occitan polvera, Spanish pólvora and Portuguese pólvora.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as puldre in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), meaning dust: si se leve la puldre.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, “dust of the ground”, was gradually taken over by poussière as poudre gained special senses;^[2][7] Bloch and Wartburg date the change to the 15th century.^[2][7] It survives in poetry, in old Bible translations and in jeter de la poudre aux yeux (1559), which first meant “to outdo”, like a runner raising dust in front of the others, and since 1660 “to dazzle with show”.^[2][3]

From 1180–90 the word meant a finely ground substance, in pharmacy from the 13th century, and as a cosmetic from 1328, much used on faces and wigs in the 17th and 18th centuries;^[5][2] poudre de riz dates from 1845.^[5][2] When gunpowder came, the name was extended to it (1361), with poudre de canon (1417) and mettre le feu aux poudres (1690).^[7][2][5] In 1940 it was applied to powdered drugs.^[2] In Quebec poudre à pâte is baking powder.^[2] English powder was borrowed from it in the 14th century.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Puldre “dust” appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[5]
• c. 1160 – The form poudre appears, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^[3][2]
• 1180–90 – It means a finely ground substance.^[5]
• 1328 – A cosmetic powder is recorded.^[5]
• 1361 – First used for gunpowder, as pourre.^[5]
• 1417 – Poudre de canons is recorded.^[5][2]
• 1559 – Amyot uses jeter la poudre en l'œil “to outdo”.^[5]
• 1845 – Poudre de riz is recorded.^[5]
• 1940 – It is applied to powdered drugs.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) dust of the ground.^[8][1]
2. Jeter de la poudre aux yeux: to try to dazzle, often with false show.^[8]
3. A solid substance in fine particles, a powder: lait en poudre, réduire en poudre.^[8][1]
4. A cosmetic powder put on the skin: un nuage de poudre.^[8]
5. Gunpowder, an explosive powder: poudre à canon.^[8][5]
6. Mettre le feu aux poudres: to set off a catastrophe or violent feelings.^[8][2]
7. (slang) Powdered drugs, especially heroin.^[8][2]

Word family

• poudrer
• poudrerie
• poudrette
• poudreuse
• poudreux
• poudrier
• poudrière
• poudroyer
• saupoudrer

Related words

• poussière
• pulvériser
• Latin pulvis
• English powder

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. 9, 561a
7. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter