truc

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tʁyk/^[1]

Forms

truc m (plural trucs)^[1] Old French trut (13th–14th centuries), trucq (1442); Agrippa d'Aubigné writes truq.^[2][1][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Occitan truc (“blow, knock”), a noun formed from trucar (“to knock, strike”), from Vulgar Latin *trūdicō, derived from classical Latin trūdō (“to push, thrust”).^{[4][5][6][7][1]} Rey relates the Latin verb to Old Church Slavonic трѹдъ (trudŭ, “toil, care”).^[4] Pierre Guiraud suggested that the word may have passed through “truche” “begging”, the beggar “pushing” at people's doors.^[5] Diez had proposed a Germanic source, Littré following him.^[3]

Compare Catalan truc and Italian trucco.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the early 13th century in Gautier de Coinci's Miracles de Notre-Dame, meaning a clever trick, a ruse.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

After isolated uses (faire le trucq “to coax with flattery”, 1442), the word reappears in the 16th century for a card game in which each card was slapped on the table (1588), and in 1611 for a blow; in 1630 it named a kind of billiards, probably under Italian influence.^[4][2]

It was taken up again in 1789 for an artful dodge, and soon for the knack of a trade (1803, avoir le truc, 1832).^[2][4] In the theatre truc was a stage device for creating an illusion (1847), whence truquer and trucage, débiner le truc “to give away the trick” is recorded in 1867.^[2][4] From about 1884–1886 it became a word for any thing one cannot or will not name, like machin and bidule.^[6][8]

Timeline

• Early 13th century – “Ruse”, in Gautier de Coinci.^[2]
• 1442 – Faire le trucq, in Martin Le Franc.^[2]
• 1588 – A card game.^[4]
• 1789 – A stratagem to deceive.^[2]
• 1803 – “Knack, secret of a trade”, in Boiste.^[2]
• 1847 – A stage device.^[2]
• 1886 – “Thing, thingummy”.^[8][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (familiar) A trick, a clever way of doing something: les trucs du métier.^[9][8]
2. The hidden knack of a conjuring trick: il y a un truc.^[8]
3. (theatre, cinema) A device for creating an illusion.^[8][10]
4. (familiar) A thing, a thingamajig; with a capital, a person whose name one has forgotten: j'ai vu Truc.^[9][1]
5. (familiar) Something one's interested in: c'est pas mon truc.^[9]

Related words

• truquer
• truquage
• trucmuche
• intrus

Usage notes

A second truc, also spelled truck, is a flat railway wagon, borrowed from English truck in 1843.^[8][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 328b
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)