traire

Forms

traire^[1] Anglo-Norman spellings include traer, treire and trere.^[2] Present je trais, nous trayons; no simple past; past participle trait, traite.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French traire, inherited from Vulgar Latin *tragō, a remaking of Classical trahō (“to pull, to drag”) (past participle tractus), probably on the model of agō (“to drive, to do”) (past participle actus), with which it shared some of its sense.^[4][5][6][7] Rey calls the origin of the Latin verb obscure; Old English dragan (“to draw”) has been compared, and perhaps Ancient Greek τρέχω (trékhō, “to run”).^[5]

Cognate with Romanian trage, Italian trarre, Occitan traire, Catalan treure and Spanish traer.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1050 the Vie de saint Alexis has the verb in its general sense “to pull, draw”; the special sense “to milk” is found about 1120, in the Voyage of Saint Brendan.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In Old French traire covered much of what tirer does today: “to pull out” (1050), “to take out (of a container)” (1080), “to go somewhere” (1050), “to shoot (a missile)” (1080), “to resemble” (1080), “to endure” (about 1120), “to draw (a line)” (about 1160) and “to draw off (wine)” (about 1190).^[5] Only some of these lasted into the 16th century, and the verb narrowed to “to milk”.^[5][6] The general sense “to pull” survives only in a few dialects (Norman, Walloon, Swiss French) and in the past participle or trait “drawn gold” (1379).^[6][4][8]

In the sense “to milk” it replaced Old French moudre, from Latin mulgeō, which had become a homonym of moudre “to grind”;^[4][6][5] moudre in this sense lasted in the North, and tirer competes with traire in the Centre and West.^[4][6][5] In the classical period it was used figuratively for “to extract money from someone” (Molière, 1668).^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – The Vie de saint Alexis uses traire for “to pull, draw”.^[4]
• c. 1120 – The Voyage of Saint Brendan uses it for “to milk”.^[4]
• 1292 – The sense “to milk” is recorded again.^[6][10]
• 1379 – Or trait “drawn gold” appears in an inventory of Charles V.^[4]
• 16th century – The general sense “to pull” falls out of use.^[6]
• 1668 – Molière uses it for extracting money.^[5]
• 1810 – It is used without an object.^[5][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To milk (a cow, goat, ewe), by hand or by machine: traire les vaches.^[8][4]
2. To draw (milk) from the udder: du lait trait le matin.^[10][8]
3. (obsolete) To pull, draw; still in the past participle or trait, gold drawn into wire.^[8][11]

Word family

• trayon
• trayeur
• traite

Related words

• trait
• portrait
• extraire
• soustraire
• distraire
• Latin trahō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
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 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f g 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. 13/2, 177a
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)