ventriloque

Forms

ventriloque m or f by sense (plural ventriloques)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin ventriloquus (“speaking from the belly”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The Latin word is formed venter (“belly”) and loquor (“to speak”).^[7][8][4] Etymonline describes the Latin word as patterned on a Greek term for “speaking in the belly”, not first an entertainer's trick but an internal speech taken as a sign of inspiration or possession.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rabelais introduced it in the Quart Livre (1552), explaining that the church decrees call the engastrimyths ventriloques, as speaking from the belly.^[2][8][5]

Semantic evolution

It names a person who can speak without moving the lips, in a voice that seems to come from the belly; the adjective use is recorded from 1704.^[4] Littré still notes the old belief that such people spoke from the belly;^[8] in his time it also named the music-hall artist who gives a voice to a puppet, the sense the GLLF dates to 1872.^[7]

The derivatives are ventriloquie (1817), a technical and rare word,^[2][4] and the rare verb ventriloquer (1885, Laforgue).^[2]

Timeline

• 1552 – Rabelais uses it in the Quart Livre.^[2][3]
• 1704 – First adjective use.^[4]
• 1817 – Ventriloquie is recorded.^[2][4]
• 1872 – Littré records the music-hall sense.^[7]
• 1885 – Laforgue uses the verb ventriloquer.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A ventriloquist, a person who can speak without moving the lips, in a muffled voice that seems to come from the belly.^[2][10]
2. A stage artist who uses this technique to make a puppet seem to talk: un numéro de ventriloque.^[2][7]

Adjective

1. Able to speak in this way: une actrice ventriloque.^[2][10][8]

Word family

• ventriloquie
• ventriloquer

Related words

• ventre
• Latin ventriloquus

References

1. ^ a b 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 251a
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert