ricochet French · revision 15745

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|attested=1611, Cotgrave}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʁi.kɔ.ʃɛ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ricochet''' ''m'' (plural ricochets)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It comes from the old phrase “la fable du ricochet” (13th century), a jingle of endless questions and answers, revived at the Renaissance as “la chanson du ricochet” (Des Périers 1538, Rabelais), an endless argument.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|23, 250b) The origin of the word itself is obscure.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Académie 9) The usual explanation connects it with the family of [[coq]] through [[cochet|t=young cock]], compare the dialect “fable du rouge kokelet” and [[it|favola dell'uccellino|t=fable of the little bird]];^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) the prefix may be the one in dialect “ripoton” “duckling” and Norman “recoquet” “last-hatched bird”, so that “ricochet” was perhaps first a little cock, or it may be iterative.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) The Petit Robert and the Grand Robert recall a song in which “coq” keeps coming back as a refrain.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ Pierre Guiraud instead made it a compound of dialect “riquer” “to give a little knock”, from an onomatopoeic root “rikk-”, and [[hocher|t=to shake]]; the TLFi thinks this unlikely, while Larousse follows it.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Cotgrave (1611) records it for the game of skimming a flat stone across water;^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005) Rey dates the word from 1604.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Through the idea of repetition, the endless song gave its name to the repeated bounces of a flat stone thrown across water, and then to the rebound of any projectile off a hard surface; gunners spoke of ''tir à ricochet'' (1752).^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Figuratively, ''un ricochet de'' was a chain of events each causing the next (Lesage, 1709), and ''par ricochet'' “indirectly, as a knock-on effect” is in the Académie in 1718.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) The verb ''ricocher'' dates from 1807.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In 1913 small hydroplane boats were called ''ricochets''.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – ''La fable du ricochet''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1538 – ''La chanson du ricochet'' (Des Périers).^(TLFi)

+ * 1611 – The game of skimming stones (Cotgrave).^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1709 – ''Un ricochet de'' “a chain of events” (Lesage).^(TLFi)

+ * 1718 – ''Par ricochet'' (Académie).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1807 – ''Ricocher''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|rebound]]; the skip of a flat stone across water, or the bounce of a [[m|en|projectile]] off a hard surface: ''faire des ricochets''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Par ricochet'': indirectly, as a knock-on effect.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(games)'' [[m|en|ducks and drakes|alt=Ducks and drakes]], stone skipping.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ricocher]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[coq]]

+ * [[en|ricochet]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}