ogre French · revision 15727

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=1181–1190, Chrétien de Troyes, Perceval|origins=la Orcus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɔɡʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ogre''' ''m'' (plural ogres, feminine ogresse)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|ogre]],^(Wiktionary) probably an alteration of an unattested [[m|fro|*orc]], [[inh|la|Orcus|t=god of the underworld; the underworld]], with the “r” moved, perhaps under the influence of words such as [[bougre]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|7, 394a) The Latin name may itself be Etruscan.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) The explanation is supported by Romance words such as [[it|orco|t=bogeyman]], [[sc|orcu|t=demon]], [[ca|orc|t=tiresome person]] and Old Spanish “huerco” “hell, devil”, and by a sermon of Saint Eligius (died 659), who forbade people to call on Orcus together with Neptune and Diana.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The older idea that “ogre” comes from “Hongre” “Hungarian”, after the Hungarian raids in the West in the Middle Ages, is rejected by the TLFi, Rey and Littré;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) Rey adds that neither explanation accounts well for the modern form.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Chrétien de Troyes's ''Perceval'' (1181–1190) an ''ogre'' is a ferocious heathen.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ About 1300 the word took its present sense, a giant of fairy tales who feeds on human flesh.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The feminine ''ogresse'' spread from Perrault's ''Petit Poucet'' (1697), displacing ''ogrine'' (1694).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''Manger comme un ogre'' “to eat enormously” is in the Académie in 1740, and an ''ogre'' is a glutton from 1819.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) From 1740 (Voltaire) it is also a cruel, frightening person, and royalists called Napoleon ''l'ogre de Corse'' because his wars devoured the young men of France.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007) In 19th-century slang an ''ogre'' was a moneylender or a dealer in conscripts' replacements.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1181–1190 – A ferocious heathen (Chrétien de Troyes).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1300 – A man-eating giant of fairy tales.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1694 – ''Ogrine''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1697 – ''Ogresse'' (Perrault).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1740 – ''Il mange comme un ogre'' (Académie); a cruel person (Voltaire).^(TLFi)

+ * 1819 – A big eater.^(TLFi)

+ * 1845 – ''Ogrerie''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|ogre]], a giant of [[m|en|fairy tale|alt=fairy tales]] who eats human flesh.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Manger comme un ogre'', ''avoir un appétit d'ogre'': to eat enormously.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(familiar)'' A big eater, a [[m|en|glutton]].^(Larousse)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(literary)'' A cruel, frightening person.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[orque]]

+ * [[lutin]]

+ * [[la|Orcus]]

+ * [[en|ogre]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}