sourcil

Forms

sourcil m (plural sourcils)^[1] Old French sorcil and surcil, with a feminine variant sorcille, later sourcille, in use until 1611.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French sorcil, inherited from Latin supercilium (“eyebrow, pride”), a compound of super (“above”) and cilium (“eyelid”).^[3][2][4] The spelling with ⟨ou⟩ is a remaking of the 13th century.^[2][5] The link with cil is still felt in modern French.^[2] The feminine form lives on in the dialects.^[3]

Cognate with Old Occitan sobrecilh, Portuguese sobrancelha and Italian sopracciglio.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as sorcil in Wace's Brut (about 1155), meaning the arched ridge above the eye socket, with its hairs.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

The phrase froncer les sourcils “to frown, look displeased” is recorded from 1559.^[2][8] In the 16th century the word took the Latin sense “haughty air, sternness” (Du Bellay, 1549), now gone.^[3][2] Poets used it for the top of a mountain or rock, as Ronsard and Du Bellay did.^[2]

By likeness it named the coloured stripe above a bird's eye (1240) and, in anatomy, the rim of the hip socket (Paré, 1561), later sourcil cotyloïdien (1871).^[2][3] In architecture it meant the top of a doorway (1676), a sense that has disappeared.^[3][2]

Timeline

• c. 1155 – Sorcil appears in Wace's Brut.^[3]
• 13th century – The spelling sourcil appears.^[2][5]
• 1549 – Du Bellay uses it for a stern countenance.^[3]
• 1559 – Froncer les sourcils is recorded.^[2]
• 1561 – Paré uses it of the rim of the hip socket.^[3]
• 1611 – Last record of the feminine sourcille.^[2]
• 1676 – Félibien uses it of the top of a door.^[3]
• 1871 – Sourcil cotyloïdien is recorded.^[2][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The arched ridge above the eye socket, covered with hair.^[3][9]
2. The hairs on this ridge, the eyebrow: des sourcils épais.^[9][1]
3. Froncer les sourcils: to frown, to show displeasure.^[9][2]
4. (anatomy) Sourcil cotyloïdien: the bony rim of the acetabulum of the hip bone.^[9]

Word family

• sourcilier
• sourciller

Related words

• cil
• Latin supercilium

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 438a
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ 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 Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)