rasoir

Forms

rasoir m (plural rasoirs)^[1] Old French rasuir (mid-12th century), rasouer (about 1180), then rasoir.^[2] Benoît de Sainte-Maure writes rasor about 1160.^[3] Anglo-Norman rasour, rasure, rasuir.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French rasuir, inherited from Late Latin rāsōrium (“razor”).^[2][1][5] The Late Latin noun is formed on rāsum, the supine of Latin rādō (“to scrape, shave”).^[2][3] The TLFi finds the Late Latin noun with the sense “razor” in the Itala, while Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF give its late Latin sense as “graving tool, burin”.^[2][6][3] In French terms it can also be analysed as raser with the suffix -oir.^[1]

Cognate with Italian rasoio, Catalan rasor and Occitan razor.^[7][8] Meyer-Lübke notes that it displaced the older Latin novāculum.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as rasuir in the Cambridge Psalter, in the middle of the 12th century, meaning an instrument for shaving.^[2] A 13th-century psalter has the comparison Tu es si comme rasoirs aguz qui est tranchanz “you are like a sharp razor that cuts”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The razor's sharpness gave the comparison couper comme un rasoir “to cut very well”, recorded by the Académie in 1740, and the stone and leather used to hone it gave pierre à rasoir (1717) and cuir à rasoir (1869).^[3][8] During the Revolution the word was applied to the guillotine (1792), also called rasoir national by Camille Desmoulins in 1793–94.^[2]

In slang it came to mean a tedious person (Delvau, 1866).^[2] Since 1881 it has also been an adjective, “boring”,^[2] but the BHVF and the FEW date the phrase ça fait rasoir with this sense as early as 1790.^[9] The 20th century added new kinds of razor: the mechanical or safety razor with a removable blade (1904–1907) and the electric razor (about 1945).^[3] English razor came from the Old French word around 1300.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1150 – Rasuir appears in the Cambridge Psalter.^[2]
• c. 1160 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses the form rasor.^[3]
• c. 1180 – The form rasouer appears in Jehan le Nevelon.^[2]
• c. 1225 – The spelling rasoir is found in a Barlaam.^[3]
• c. 1300 – English borrows the word as rasour.^[10]
• 1717 – Pierre à rasoir “razor hone” is recorded.^[3]
• 1740 – The Académie records couper comme un rasoir.^[3]
• 1792 – Used for the guillotine.^[2]
• 1866 – Delvau records it for a tedious person.^[2]
• 1881 – First recorded as an adjective, “boring”.^[2]
• 1904 – Larousse records the mechanical razor.^[3]
• c. 1945 – Rasoir électrique “electric razor” appears.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A razor, an instrument with a very sharp blade for shaving hair: rasoir à main (a folding razor), rasoir mécanique (a safety razor), rasoir électrique (an electric shaver).^[11][12][13]
2. Le fil du rasoir: the razor's edge, a dangerous position.^[11][2]
3. Coupé au rasoir: with very clean, sharp edges.^[12][11]
4. Rasoir d'Occam: Occam's razor, the principle of parsimony.^[12]
5. (familiar, dated) A tedious, boring person.^[8][2]

Adjective

1. (familiar, invariable) Boring, tiresome: une soirée rasoir (a dull evening).^[12][13][1]

Related words

• raser
• Latin rādō

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 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 d e f g h i j k Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 93a
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
13. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)