sécher

Forms

sécher^[1] Old French secher (about 1120), also sechier (12th century).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French sechier, inherited from Latin siccō (“to make dry, to drain”), a derivative of siccus (“dry”) (see sec).^[4][5][6][2] In Latin the verb was transitive and intransitive, meaning also “to empty completely” and “to become dry”.^[4][2]

Cognate with Italian seccare, Spanish secar, Old Occitan secar, Walloon sechi and Norman séquer.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century) uses it for drying up rivers: tu secchas les fluvies (“you dried up the rivers”).^[4][7][8]

Semantic evolution

From “to drain, to dry up” the verb soon took the general sense “to make dry” (about 1150) and “to become dry” (about 1155), especially of plants, whence sécher sur le pied (1694), now sécher sur pied, used figuratively from 1718 of a girl who finds no husband.^[2] From the 12th century it was also used for drying fruit and other food to keep it (about 1170).^[2][4]

Sécher les larmes de quelqu'un “to console someone” is recorded from 1559, and sécher ses larmes (1640, Corneille) also meant “to master one's grief”.^[2][4] Familiar sécher un verre “to drain a glass” dates from 1880.^[2]

In 19th-century school slang sécher meant to fail a candidate (1865–66), then to be stuck for an answer (1866); sécher un cours “to skip a class” is from 1878, and the sense was later widened to skipping a meeting (1920).^[4][2]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – The Oxford Psalter uses it for drying up rivers.^[4][8]
• c. 1145 – Wace uses it for “to make dry”.^[4]
• c. 1170 – The Livre des Rois uses it for drying food to preserve it.^[4][2]
• 1559 – Sécher les larmes de quelqu'un “to console” is recorded.^[2]
• 1640 – Corneille writes sécher ses pleurs “to master one's grief”.^[4]
• 1694 – Sécher sur le pied is recorded.^[2]
• 1866 – School slang uses it for “to fail a candidate” and “to be stuck for an answer”.^[2][8]
• 1878 – Sécher le lycée “to skip school” is recorded by Rigaud.^[4]
• 1880 – Sécher un verre “to drain a glass” appears.^[2]
• 1920 – Léon Daudet uses it for skipping a meeting.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To dry, to make dry: le vent sèche le linge.^[9][10] Of food: sécher des abricots.^[9][10]
2. (transitive) To absorb or evaporate a liquid.^[9] Sécher les larmes de quelqu'un: to console someone.^[9]
3. (familiar) Sécher un verre: to drain a glass in one go.^[9]
4. (familiar) To skip a class or meeting deliberately, to play truant: sécher un cours.^[9][1]
5. (intransitive) To become dry: ce vernis sèche vite.^[9][10]
6. (intransitive, figurative) To languish, to pine: sécher d'impatience.^[9] Sécher sur pied: to be bored stiff.^[9]
7. (intransitive, familiar) To be stuck for an answer in an exam: il a séché en géographie.^[9][1]
8. (pronominal) Se sécher: to dry oneself.^[9]

Word family

• assécher
• dessécher
• sèche-cheveux
• sécheuse
• séchoir
• séchage
• sécherie

Related words

• dessiccation
• sec
• Latin siccus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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 k l 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
5. ^ 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. 11, 580a
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)