querelle
Pronunciation
- IPA: /kə.ʁɛl/[1]
Forms
querelle f (plural querelles)[1] Querele (about 1155), querelle (about 1175).[2]
Etymology
It is borrowed from Latin querella (“complaint, lament; complaint at law”) (more often “querēla”),[3][2][4][5] from querī (“to complain”).[2][1] Rey notes that the Latin verb seems isolated, a link with Sanskrit श्वसिति (śvásiti, “he breathes hard”) fitting neither sense nor form.[2] Littré compared the suffix of loquēla and sequēla.[6]
Cognate with Old Occitan querela and Italian querela.[6] German Querele is borrowed from it.[1]
Earliest recorded meaning
Wace (1155) uses querele for a complaint or accusation at law.[3][2]
Semantic evolution
In Old and Middle French it meant a lawsuit or claim, a matter in question (Chrétien de Troyes's estre an la querele), an inner struggle (about 1220) and a person's cause in a dispute;[3][2] the last survives in épouser la querelle de qqn “to take up someone's cause” (1671).[3][2] The Latin sense “complaint, lament” lasted until the 17th century, as in Marot's lamentable querelle.[4][6]
The modern sense, a heated dispute, appears about 1260 (Philippe de Novare) and became the usual one in the 16th century (1538).[3][4][7] Querelle d'Allemand “quarrel picked for no reason” follows querelle d'Allemagne (16th century), from the bad name of drunken German soldiers or from the quarrels of the German princes, according to Rey.[2][3] Chercher querelle dates from Fénelon (about 1692), and the word also names a learned controversy, as the querelle des Anciens et des Modernes.[7][8]
Timeline
- 1155 – Querele “accusation” in Wace.[3]
- 1174–1187 – Estre an la querele in Chrétien de Troyes.[3]
- c. 1260 – A dispute, in Philippe de Novare.[3]
- 16th century – Querelle d'Allemagne.[3]
- 1611 – Querelle d'Aleman in Cotgrave.[3]
- 1671 – Épouser la querelle de qqn.[3]
Meanings
Noun
- A quarrel, heated dispute: querelle d'amoureux, chercher querelle à qqn.[9][8]
- A controversy, debate of ideas: la querelle des Anciens et des Modernes.[8][7]
- Querelle d'Allemand: a quarrel picked for no reason.[10][3]
- Épouser la querelle de qqn: to take up someone's cause.[9][3]
- (obsolete) A lawsuit, complaint at law.[11][9]
Word family
- querelleur
- quereller
Related words
Usage notes
A miners' word querelle “sandstone” (1776, quoerelle; 1805, kuerelle at Anzin) is a separate word of uncertain dialect origin, perhaps from a pre-Roman root *carra “stone”.[11][12]
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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
- ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1462b
- ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
- ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
- ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF