raviner

Forms

raviner^[1]

Etymology

In its modern sense it is from French ravine (“gully, torrent”) with the verb ending -er, formed in the 16th century.^[2][3][4][1] An Old French verb raviner, from about 1215 “to flow with force” and earlier “to rush” (of a stag in Béroul's Tristan), came from the Old French noun ravine (“impetuosity, violence”), itself from Latin rapīna (“robbery, plunder”);^[2][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg treat the modern verb as the continuation of the old one, whose sense changed in the 16th century.^[5] The old verb also meant “to steal, carry off”.^[2][7][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cholières (the TLFi dates the text before 1592, the GLLF to 1585) uses it of a flood of water that “ravines”, washes away, the seed: une lavasse d'eau qui ravine la semence.^[10][2][11]

Semantic evolution

The verb was taken up again in the 18th century (Trévoux, 1771),^[2] and, from 1813 it meant to cut gullies into the ground.^[2][10] The past participle raviné was used as an adjective of eroded land from 1813.^[3] Since the end of the 19th century it has been used figuratively for deep wrinkles on a face (Léon Bloy, 1897).^[3][12][11] From the verb came the noun ravin “gully” (1690).^[5][3]

Timeline

• 12th century – Old French raviner means “to rush impetuously”.^[5]
• c. 1215 – Raviner “to flow with force” in Aymeri de Narbonne.^[2]
• 1585 – Cholières uses it of water washing away seed.^[11][4]
• 1771 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux records it again.^[2]
• 1813 – Ramond uses it for cutting gullies.^[2]
• 1897 – Léon Bloy uses it of a face furrowed by tears.^[12][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) Of running water: to gully or erode the ground, cutting deep furrows into it: L'orage a raviné le chemin.^[12][2]
2. (pronominal) Se raviner: to become furrowed with gullies.^[2][3]
3. (figurative) To mark (a face) with deep wrinkles.^[12][11]

Word family

• ravin

Related words

• ravine
• rapine
• ravir
• Latin rapīna

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 67a
7. ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 8:350
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
10. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
12. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert