vendanger

Forms

vendanger (transitive and intransitive; the ⟨g⟩ takes an ⟨e⟩ before ⟨a⟩ and ⟨o⟩: nous vendangeons, je vendangeais)^[1][2] Old French vendengier and vandangier; the modern spelling dates from the 14th century.^[3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French vendengier, inherited from Latin vindēmiō (“to gather the grapes”), from vindēmia (“grape harvest”).^[6][3][4][7] The noun vendange comes from the same Latin family.^[4][5]

Cognate with Italian vendemmiare, Old Occitan vendemiar, Catalan veremar, Spanish vendimiar and Portuguese vindimar.^[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb first appears in the Oxford Psalter in the first half of the 12th century, in a verse asking why all who pass by the way may pick the grapes of the vine whose hedges have been torn down.^[6][1]

Semantic evolution

By about 1179 it meant to harvest grapes for wine, in a phrase of the Roman de Renart meaning “before it is too late”.^[6] Beaumanoir uses it intransitively, “to do the grape harvest”, about 1283.^[5][1]

Most of its figurative uses turn on the idea of taking everything away: “to cut off (ears)” in the 13th century, “to lay waste (vines, crops)” about 1310, “to plunder (someone)” in 1306, “to ruin” in 1501 and even “to massacre” about 1600.^[3][6] About 1600 it was also used of gathering honey and silk, and familiarly for “to take”, a sense now gone.^[3] Littré still records la grêle a tout vendangé of hail that has destroyed a crop, and the saying il vendange tout à son aise of someone who makes unlawful profits in his post.^[1] It is now also used for missing chances to score.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – Vendengier in the Oxford Psalter.^[6][3]
• c. 1179 – Vandangier in the Roman de Renart.^[6][3]
• c. 1283 – Beaumanoir uses the verb without an object.^[5]
• 1306 – Guillaume Guiart uses it for “to plunder”.^[6][3]
• 14th century – The spelling vendanger.^[4][5]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the derivative vendangeoire “grape-picker's basket”.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To pick the grapes of a vineyard: vendanger une parcelle de pinot.^[10][6][2]
2. (transitive) To harvest grapes to make wine.^[10][11]
3. (intransitive) To do the grape harvest, to vintage: on vendange tard cette année.^[10][2][6]
4. (figurative, dated) To lay waste, to plunder.^[1][3]
5. To miss chances to score, especially easy ones.^[9]

Word family

• vendangeoir
• vendangerot

Related words

• vendange
• vendangeur
• Latin vindēmia

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
2. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ 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
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 465b
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)