girafe French · revision 15606

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1298, Livre de Marco Polo|origins=ar زرافة}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʒi.ʁaf/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''girafe''' ''f'' (plural girafes)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French also had [[m|fro|giras]] (mid-13th century) and [[m|fro|orafle]] (Joinville, late 13th century), taken straight from Arabic.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The spelling ''giraffe'' was still used by Cuvier and Lamarck in the early 19th century.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|it|giraffa]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) itself from [[ar|زرافة|tr=zarāfa|t=giraffe]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(REW 1935)^(FEW|19, 207b) The Italian word is recorded from the second half of the 13th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The Arabic word had already reached Old French directly, giving the short-lived forms [[m|fro|giras]] and [[m|fro|orafle]], as it gave [[osp|azorafa]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[es|jirafa]] and [[pt|girafa]].^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It first appears in 1298 in the French text of Marco Polo's travels, in the plural ''giraffe'', for the African animal.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The animal's long neck and thin build gave figurative senses: from 1828 ''girafe'' is used familiarly of a tall, thin person, and ''un cou de girafe'' “a very long neck” is recorded in 1900.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) The phrase ''peigner la girafe'' “to comb the giraffe”, meaning to do pointless work or nothing at all, dates from the early 20th century;^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Rey thinks it is more likely an erotic image than the anecdotes told to explain it.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ In film and broadcasting, ''girafe'' has named a long jointed boom carrying a microphone since 1931.^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * mid-13th century – Old French ''giras'', taken directly from Arabic.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * late 13th century – Joinville writes ''orafle''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+ * 1298 – ''Giraffe'' appears in the French Marco Polo.^(TLFi)

+ * 1828 – Used of a tall, thin person.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * early 20th century – ''Peigner la girafe'' “to do nothing useful”.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1931 – A microphone boom is called a ''girafe''.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|giraffe]], the long-necked African [[m|en|ruminant]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(familiar)'' A tall, thin person.^(Le Robert)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(film, broadcasting)'' A [[m|en|boom]] holding a [[m|en|microphone]] or camera.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Peigner la girafe'' ''(familiar)'': to do useless work, or to do nothing.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Académie 9)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[girafeau]]

+ * [[girafon]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|giraffe]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}