chauffer French · revision 15807

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=mid-12th century, Wace|origins=la caleō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʃo.fe/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''chauffer'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|chaufer]], [[inh|la-vul|*calefō|alt=*calefāre]], a shortening of [[la|calefaciō|alt=calefacere|t=to make warm; to excite]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|2, 78b) a compound of [[m|la|caleō|t=to be warm]] and [[m|la|faciō|t=to make]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Meyer-Lübke notes that the relation of the Romance ending to “facere” is not quite clear.^(REW 1935)

+

+ Cognate with [[pro|calfar]] and [[ca|calfar]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) The verb is found in all the Gallo-Romance dialects except part of the Franco-Provençal area and the far south-east, which use the type “échauder”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first used intransitively in the mid-12th century, in Wace's ''Saint Nicolas'', meaning “to become hot”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The transitive sense “to make hot” appears figuratively in Chrétien de Troyes' ''Cligès'' (1176) and literally in his ''Perceval'';^(TLFi) a 13th-century fabliau has the smith who ''chauffe son fer''.^(TLFi) In 1421 ''chauffer'' meant to torture with fire.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) The reflexive ''se chauffer'' (13th century) gave the proverb ''montrer de quel bois on se chauffe'' “to show what one is made of” (1585).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ In 1690 Furetière recorded ''ce n'est pas pour vous que le four chauffe'';^(TLFi) ''ça va chauffer'' “there's going to be trouble” dates from the 1830s–1840s.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The Académie recorded ''chauffer quelqu'un'' “to press someone hard” in 1798,^(TLFi) and of an engine ''chauffer'' means “to overheat” (1906).^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992) In Quebec French it means “to drive (a car)”, after ''chauffeur''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Mid-12th century – “To become hot”, in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 1176 – Transitive, figuratively, in ''Cligès''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1265 – The noun ''chauffage''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1421 – “To torture with fire”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1585 – ''De quel bois on s'y chauffe''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1680 – ''Chauffeur'' “stoker”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1798 – ''Chauffer quelqu'un'' “to press hard”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1906 – Of an engine overheating.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(transitive)'' To [[m|en|heat]], warm: ''chauffer de l'eau'', ''chauffer une maison'', ''chauffer à blanc'': to make white-hot.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(figurative, familiar)'' To excite, fire up: ''chauffer la salle''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To heat up, get hot; of an engine, to [[m|en|overheat]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(BHVF)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''Ça va chauffer'': there's going to be trouble.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(Quebec)'' To drive (a vehicle).^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(reflexive)'' To warm oneself; to heat one's home: ''se chauffer au bois''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[chauffage]]

+ * [[chauffe-eau]]

+ * [[chaufferette]]

+ * [[chaufferie]]

+ * [[chauffeur]]

+ * [[réchauffer]]

+ * [[chauffe]]

+ * [[chauffard]]

+ * [[surchauffer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[chaud]]

+ * [[chaleur]]

+ * [[échauffer]]

+ * [[la|calefaciō]]

+ * [[en|chafe]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A slang ''chauffer'' “to rob passers-by; to steal” (about 1840) is probably from popular Italian ''ciuffare''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}