puddler

Forms

puddler^[1] The spelling pudler is found in 1834, in the Annales des mines.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English puddle (“to stir molten iron”).^{[3][4][5][6][7]} The English verb first meant “to dabble in water, stir up mud” (15th century) and took its sense in iron-working in the late 18th century.^[3][4][8] It is derived from the noun (“small pool of dirty water”), earlier Middle English podel or puddel, a diminutive of Old English pudd (“ditch, furrow”).^[4][8] Compare German pudeln (“to splash in water”).^[8]

The TLFi, the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert date the French verb to 1827;^{[3][5][6][9][10]} Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF give 1834, after Bonnaffé.^{[3][5][6][9][10]}

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1827, in Dufrénoy and Élie de Beaumont's account of a metallurgical journey in England, for refining cast iron by puddling.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The word kept the English technical sense, to refine pig iron by stirring it.^[4] Its derivatives came in at the same time: puddlage, the process (1827), and puddleur, the worker (1827), the latter after the English puddler, which is recorded somewhat later (1831).^[4][3] Bloch and Wartburg date puddleur only to 1859, and the Petit Robert puddlage to 1842.^[9][6]

Littré describes the process as refining cast iron with coal in a furnace heated to a high temperature, where the gases remove the carbon.^[7] The Petit Robert now labels the word as a term of an old technique.^[6]

Timeline

• 15th century – English puddle “to dabble, stir mud” is recorded.^[3][4]
• Late 18th century – The English verb is used in iron-working.^[3][4]
• 1827 – First French record, with puddlage and puddleur.^[3][4]
• 1831 – The English noun puddler is recorded.^[3][4]
• 1834 – The Annales des mines mention fourneaux à pudler.^[2]
• 1842 – Fer puddlé “puddled iron” appears in a railway journal.^[2]
• 1932 – The Académie's 8th edition defines it as a metallurgy term.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. (metallurgy, historical) To puddle: to refine pig iron into iron or steel by stirring it in a reverberatory furnace with oxidizing slag, which removes the carbon.^{[6][12][3][10][13]}
2. Four à puddler: a puddling furnace.^[3][6]

Word family

• puddlage
• puddleur

Related words

• English puddle

Usage notes

The pronunciation varies: the Petit Robert and the Grand Robert give [pydle], the GLLF [pœdle], and Littré pu-dlé.^{[6][5][10][7]}

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Bonnaffé, Édouard (1920), Dictionnaire étymologique et historique des anglicismes, Paris: Delagrave
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
10. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ Académie française (1932–1935), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 8th ed., Paris: Hachette
12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
13. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)