Etymologically
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truc

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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]
  • 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)