souler

Forms

souler^[1] Souler is the reformed spelling of soûler, also written saouler.^[2][3][1] Old French savoler (late 11th century), saüler (about 1120), saoler (about 1130) and saouler (about 1220); soûler is recorded from 1553.^[4][5][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French saüler, inherited from Latin satullō (“to fill, satiate”).^[7][1][8] The Latin verb comes from satullus (“well fed”), a diminutive of satur (“sated”).^[1][8][6] The spelling with ⟨oû⟩ (1553) was remade after the adjective soûl, and the Grand Robert and the GLLF derive the verb from that adjective.^[6][5][4]

Cognate with Italian satollare, Occitan sadolar and Catalan sadollar.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The form savoler is found at the end of the 11th century in Rashi's glosses.^[4][5] The Treasury of the French Language dates saüler “to satiate” to about 1120, in the Voyage of Saint Brendan.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The verb first meant “to fill with food”, and Rey notes that it is first found in the figurative phrase “not to be able to have one's fill of doing something” (1170).^[6] Figurative use is dated 1155 in Wace and the reflexive about 1165 in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^[7] The idea of plenty gave “to satisfy someone with something” (1260) and “to sate a passion” (1440–1475), still recorded in the 17th century, and farmers spoke of soûler une terre for manuring a field (1552).^[6]

The reflexive took the sense “to drink to excess” in 1640, and the transitive “to make drunk” in 1677; it can also have a thing as its subject.^[6][5] The Treasury of the French Language dates se saouler “to get drunk” to Pomey (1671).^[7] The sense of having too much led to “to weary, bore” (mid-16th century, Louise Labé), with the reflexive “to grow tired of” in Amyot (1559).^[7][6] The Académie wrote saouler in 1694, souler in 1718 and 1740, soûler from 1762, and both soûler and saouler from 1798.^[7]

Timeline

• Late 11th century – Savoler appears in Rashi's glosses.^[4][6]
• c. 1120 – Saüler “to satiate” is used in the Voyage of Saint Brendan.^[7]
• c. 1165 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses the reflexive.^[7]
• 1553 – The spelling soûler is found.^[5][6]
• Mid-16th century – Louise Labé uses it for “to weary”.^[7]
• 1640 – Se saoûler means to drink to excess.^[6]
• 1677 – It means “to make drunk”.^[6][5]
• 1718 – The Académie spells it souler.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (literary, dated) To fill with food or drink; to satiate.^[11][8][10]
2. To make drunk;^[11][3][2] reflexive, to get drunk.^[11][3][2]
3. (figurative) To go to someone's head, to intoxicate.^[11][3][1]
4. (familiar) To weary or bore, especially by endless talk.^[3][8][1]

Related words

• dessouler
• soûl
• saturer
• Latin satullus

Usage notes

Se soûler la gueule is recorded as familiar by the Petit Robert and the Grand Robert, meaning “to get plastered”.^[11][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
3. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
8. ^ a b c d Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert