ricochet

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʁi.kɔ.ʃɛ/^[1]

Forms

ricochet m (plural ricochets)^[1]

Etymology

It comes from the old phrase “la fable du ricochet” (13th century), a jingle of endless questions and answers, revived at the Renaissance as “la chanson du ricochet” (Des Périers 1538, Rabelais), an endless argument.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The origin of the word itself is obscure.^[2][3][4][7] The usual explanation connects it with the family of coq through cochet (“young cock”), compare the dialect “fable du rouge kokelet” and Italian favola dell'uccellino (“fable of the little bird”);^[2][3][4][1] the prefix may be the one in dialect “ripoton” “duckling” and Norman “recoquet” “last-hatched bird”, so that “ricochet” was perhaps first a little cock, or it may be iterative.^[2][3][1] The Petit Robert and the Grand Robert recall a song in which “coq” keeps coming back as a refrain.^[8][5]

Pierre Guiraud instead made it a compound of dialect “riquer” “to give a little knock”, from an onomatopoeic root “rikk-”, and hocher (“to shake”); the TLFi thinks this unlikely, while Larousse follows it.^[2][3][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cotgrave (1611) records it for the game of skimming a flat stone across water;^[2][5] Rey dates the word from 1604.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Through the idea of repetition, the endless song gave its name to the repeated bounces of a flat stone thrown across water, and then to the rebound of any projectile off a hard surface; gunners spoke of tir à ricochet (1752).^[10][2][11] Figuratively, un ricochet de was a chain of events each causing the next (Lesage, 1709), and par ricochet “indirectly, as a knock-on effect” is in the Académie in 1718.^[2][11] The verb ricocher dates from 1807.^[4] In 1913 small hydroplane boats were called ricochets.^[12]

Timeline

• 13th century – La fable du ricochet.^[2][3]
• 1538 – La chanson du ricochet (Des Périers).^[2]
• 1611 – The game of skimming stones (Cotgrave).^[2][5]
• 1709 – Un ricochet de “a chain of events” (Lesage).^[2]
• 1718 – Par ricochet (Académie).^[2][11]
• 1807 – Ricocher.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rebound; the skip of a flat stone across water, or the bounce of a projectile off a hard surface: faire des ricochets.^[8][9]
2. Par ricochet: indirectly, as a knock-on effect.^[8][9]
3. (games) Ducks and drakes, stone skipping.^[1]

Word family

• ricocher

Related words

• coq
• English ricochet

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 23, 250b
7. ^ Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
12. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF