raccrocher

Forms

raccrocher^[1] Older spelling racrocher (1480–1490).^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from French re- + accrocher.^[2][3][4][5] The base verb is formed from croc, which is from Frankish *krōk (“hook”).^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1310 as a pronominal verb, se raccrocher “to rally”;^[8][3][6] as a transitive verb it meant “to make hooked” in 1539^[8] and, by about 1480–1490, “to fasten (a dress) with a hook”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The modern uses date from the 17th century: “to hang up again” (1675) and the abstract “to catch back, recover” what had been lost, first “to win back a lost advantage” (Molière, 1662–1663).^[8][2] Se raccrocher “to grab hold of something so as not to fall” is recorded in 1765, and in a figurative sense from 1832.^[2] In 1725 the verb meant “to accost passers-by”, said of prostitutes, and in 1836 “to stop someone to hold them back”.^[2][9] In games it meant to make lucky strokes (1829), the sense of the noun raccroc.^[2][8]

With the telephone it came to mean to put back the receiver and end a call (1894 according to Rey and the Petit Robert, 1904 in the TLFi), because the earpiece hung on a hook that cut the line when lowered.^[8][4][2] From hanging up gloves or gear came the idea of giving up, as in raccrocher les gants “to stop boxing”, which probably led to the absolute use for quitting an activity (1931).^[8][2]

Timeline

• 1310 – Se raccrocher “to rally” is first recorded.^[8][3]
• c. 1480–1490 – Racrocher means to fasten a dress with a hook.^[2]
• 1663 – Molière uses se raccrocher for winning back a lost advantage.^[2]
• 1675 – Widerhold's dictionary records “to hang up again”.^[2][8]
• 1725 – Grandval uses it for accosting passers-by.^[2][9]
• 1765 – Se raccrocher “to grab hold so as not to fall” appears in the Encyclopédie.^[2]
• 1894 – It is used for ending a telephone call.^[8][4]
• 1931 – It means “to give up an activity”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hang up again, put back (something that was unhooked): raccrocher une affiche, raccrocher une caravane.^[4][2][1]
2. To hang up, end a telephone call: raccrocher au nez “to hang up on someone”.^[4][1]
3. (sport, familiar) To give up competing or an activity: raccrocher les gants.^[4][8]
4. To catch back, recover by a lucky stroke (what seemed lost).^[4][2]
5. To stop (passers-by) to hold their attention; of prostitutes, to accost them.^[4][2]
6. (pronominal) Se raccrocher à: to cling to, hold on to; figuratively, to cling to a last hope: se raccrocher aux branches.^[4][1]
7. (pronominal) Of a thing, to be connected or related to.^[4]

Word family

• raccroc
• raccrocheur
• raccrochement

Related words

• accrocher
• décrocher
• croc

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 q r 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 403b
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF