tremper

Forms

tremper^[1] Old and Middle French temprer, tenprer;^[2][3][4] tremper by metathesis from the early 13th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French temprer, inherited from Latin temperō (“to mix in due proportion, to moderate”).^[2][3][4][5] The ⟨r⟩ moved by metathesis, giving the present form from the early 13th century, and the new form soon drove out the old.^[3][6] Gregory of Tours already writes vinum temperatum of wine mixed with water.^[6] The Latin verb is probably derived from tempus (“time”).^[7][8]

Compare Occitan trempar, Catalan trempar, Spanish templar, Portuguese temperar and Italian temprare.^[7][9] tempérer is a learned borrowing of the same Latin verb, and the two families shared out its senses: the borrowing took “to moderate”, the inherited verb “to soak, to dilute”.^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The old form temprer is first recorded about 1155 in Wace's Brut, of softening the water of a bath; in the 12th–14th centuries it meant to mix, to moderate, to temper metal and to dip into a liquid.^[2] A 12th-century poem says of a helmet qui si fu dur tenprez, so hard was it tempered.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to mix wine with water” was inherited from Latin and survives only in tremper son vin (Joinville, 1306); Joinville says of Saint Louis that son vin trempoit par mesure.^[2][3][9] From it came “to soak with a liquid” (1213), as in tremper la soupe (1547), to pour broth over slices of bread, and the old slang sense “to eat” (1867).^[3][2] The intransitive “to stay in a liquid” is recorded from the 13th century.^[3]

From the 12th century the verb meant to plunge hot steel into cold water to harden it (tremper l'acier), and in 1613 Régnier has esprit trempé, a mind steeled by trials.^[6][3][2] Figuratively tremper dans (1640) is to be involved in a shady affair, hence tremper dans le sang (Racine, 1677).^[3][2] In the Middle Ages it could also mean to tune a harp.^[6] Popular speech used it for “to beat” (1867), and tremper sa chemise (mid-20th century) is to work very hard.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1155 – Temprer in Wace's Brut.^[2]
• Early 13th century – The metathesized form tremper appears.^[3][4]
• 1213 – “To soak with a liquid”.^[3]
• 1306 – Joinville uses it for diluting wine with water.^[2]
• 1508 – Used of tempering metal in the building accounts of the Château de Gaillon.^[2]
• 1547 – Tremper la soupe in Noël du Fail.^[2][3]
• 1637 – Corneille's Cid has tremper ses mains dans le sang and the reflexive se tremper.^[2]
• 1677 – Tremper dans le sang in Racine's Phèdre.^[2][3]
• 1867 – Slang senses “to eat” and “to beat”.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To soak or drench with a liquid: La pluie a trempé nos manteaux.^[7][1]
2. (transitive) To dip something in a liquid: tremper un croissant dans son café.^[7][1]
3. (transitive) To dilute wine with water: tremper son vin.^[7][6]
4. (transitive, metallurgy) To temper or quench steel by plunging it hot into a cold bath; figuratively, to steel a person's character: Les épreuves l'ont trempé.^[7][1]
5. (intransitive) To soak, to stay in a liquid: faire tremper des haricots secs.^[7][2]
6. (intransitive, figurative) Tremper dans: to be party to a dishonest affair: tremper dans un complot.^[7][3]
7. (reflexive) Se tremper: to get into the water, to take a quick dip.^[7][2]

Word family

• trempe
• trempage
• trempette
• retremper
• trempé
• tremperie
• détremper

Related words

• attremper
• tempérer
• Latin temperō

Usage notes

Trempé is the past participle used as an adjective: “soaked”, and of steel or a character, “tempered”, as in un caractère bien trempé.^[3] Popular speech has erotic metaphors such as tremper son biscuit (19th century).^[3][1]

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 o p 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/1, 168a
6. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette