sucer

Forms

sucer^[1] Old French suchier (about 1119) and sucier (about 1120); sucer is a 13th-century reshaping.^[2][3] Anglo-Norman spellings include succher, soucher and suker.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French sucier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sūctiō (“to suck, draw in”), formed on the supine sūctum of sūgō (“to suck”).^{[5][2][6][1][7]} Bloch and Wartburg add that the French verb, by its shape, also has a certain onomatopoeic value,^[6] and Meyer-Lübke thought it might be a nursery word.^[8]

The Latin verb belongs to western Indo-European and is related to Germanic forms such as Old English sūcan, Old Norse súga and Old High German sūgan (German saugen); a link with sūcus (“juice”) would be logical but is not certain.^[2]

Cognate with Italian succiare and Old Occitan sussar; the word is rare outside French.^[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are from the first half of the 12th century: the Psautier de Cambridge uses it of drawing in a liquid with the lips, and Philippe de Thaon's Bestiaire (1121–1134) of animals sucking a nourishing liquid.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

The verb kept the Latin sense of drawing in a liquid with the lips.^[2] Sucer le lait “to suckle at the breast” (13th century) has gone out of use, but the figurative sucer quelque chose avec le lait “to take something in from infancy”, modelled on Latin, is found from 1549.^[2][5] Of insects sucer le sang “feed on blood” is as old as the verb; since 1690 it has also meant figuratively to exploit someone.^[2][9]

From 1314 it also meant to draw poison out of a wound by suction.^[5][2] From the late 12th century it also meant to press something held in the mouth with the lips and tongue (sucer ses doigts), whence melting a sweet in the mouth (1834).^[5][2] The erotic sense dates from the late 18th century (Sade).^[2] In slang it means to drink alcohol, first in sucer le cruchon (1773), and sucer un verre is recorded in 1866.^[2][5][10] Se sucer la pomme “to kiss at length” is familiar (1866), and in cycling sucer la roue (1924) is to ride close behind another rider.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1119 – Suchier is used by Philippe de Thaon.^[2][9]
• c. 1120 – Sucier in the Psautier de Cambridge.^[9][2]
• 13th century – The form sucer appears.^[2]
• 1314 – Henri de Mondeville uses it of drawing poison out of a wound.^[5]
• 1549 – Du Bellay writes of languages succées avecques le laict de la nourice.^[5]
• 1690 – Furetière records the figurative sucer le sang “to exploit”.^[9][2]
• 1773 – Sucer le cruchon “to drink” is recorded.^[2]
• 1866 – Delvau records sucer un verre “to drink a glass”.^[5][10]
• 1924 – Sucer la roue appears in cycling.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To suck, draw a liquid in with the lips: sucer le jus d'une pêche.^[11][12]
2. Sucer avec le lait: to take something in from earliest childhood.^[11][2]
3. Of animals and plants, to draw in a nourishing liquid through a sucking organ.^[11][5]
4. To hold something in the mouth and press it with the lips and tongue, to melt it or out of habit: sucer un bonbon à la menthe, l'enfant suçait son pouce.^[13][11]
5. To draw poison or blood out of a wound by succion.^[5][14]
6. (figurative) Sucer le sang de quelqu'un: to exploit someone.^[2]
7. (familiar) Of a vehicle, to consume a lot of fuel: ce vieux camion suce beaucoup.^[11]
8. (slang) To drink alcohol.^[2][10]
9. (vulgar) To perform fellation or oral sex on.^[1][2]
10. (cycling) Sucer la roue: to ride in another rider's wake.^[2]

Word family

• suceur
• suçoir
• sucette
• suçon
• suçoter
• resucée
• sucement
• suçage
• sucet

Related words

• suc
• succion
• Latin sūgō

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 n o p q r s t u v w 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. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 388a
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
11. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
13. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
14. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette