canif French · revision 15767

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1441, quenif|origins=frk *knif}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ka.nif/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''canif''' ''m'' (plural canifs)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Quenif'' (1441), ''canif'' (1611, Cotgrave); the diminutive ''canivet'' is older (second half of the 12th century). Ménage recommended pronouncing ''ganif''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably [[bor|frk|*knif|t=knife]], reconstructed from [[non|knífr]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Académie 9)^(FEW|16, 337a) which gave late [[ang|cnīf]] and English [[m|en|knife]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) Because of the age of the French words and the area where they are found, a Frankish source is preferred to a borrowing from Old English, Old Norse or Middle Dutch.^(TLFi) The diminutive [[m|fro|canivet]], “cnivet” “little knife” (about 1165, Chrétien de Troyes) is attested well before the simple word, and [[ca|ganivet]] is from the same source.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary also cites Middle English “knyf”.^(Wiktionary) The Germanic family is of obscure origin.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ ''Canivet'' is found from the second half of the 12th century;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) the simple word appears in 1441 as ''quenif''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ For a long time a ''canif'' was a small blade with a handle for sharpening quill pens.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) It now means a pocket knife with blades that fold into the handle, and in engraving (1752, ''knif'', perhaps from English) a wood-engraver's tool.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ''Donner des coups de canif dans le contrat'' (1794, Hébert's ''Père Duchesne''), “to be unfaithful to one's spouse”, comes from the custom of cancelling a written deed by striking through it with a knife, according to Littré.^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1165 – ''Canivet'' (Chrétien de Troyes).^(TLFi)

+ * 1441 – ''Quenif''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1611 – ''Canif'' (Cotgrave).^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1694 – First recorded by the Académie.^(TLFi)

+ * 1752 – A wood-engraver's tool.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1794 – ''Coups de canif dans le contrat'' (Hébert).^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|penknife]], a pocket knife with folding blades.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated)'' A small blade for sharpening [[m|en|quill|alt=quills]].^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''Donner un coup de canif dans le contrat'': to be unfaithful to one's spouse.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|knife]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}