gâter French · revision 15850

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=la vastus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡa.te/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /ɡɑ.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gâter'''^(Wiktionary)

+ [[fro|guaster]], [[m|fro|gaster]]; spelt ''gâter'' from 1636 (Monet).^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|guaster]], [[inh|la|vāstō|t=to lay waste, depopulate; to ravage]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|14, 202a) from [[m|la|vāstus|t=empty, desolate]],^(DHLF 1992) whose initial was changed to /w/, and hence /g/, under the influence of a Germanic verb [[frk|*wōstjan|t=to lay waste]], seen in [[goh|wuostan]] and [[de|verwüsten]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Since the Romance forms all have ⟨g⟩, the FEW thinks the crossing is older than the Frankish period.^(TLFi) Littré allowed the Germanic word's influence but noted that it would rather have given “gastir”.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|guastare|t=to lay waste; to spoil]], [[pro|gastar]] and [[es|gastar|t=to spend, wear out]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has ''Charles li magnes ad Espagne guastede'' “Charlemagne has laid Spain waste”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “to ravage, devastate” lasted until the 17th century,^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) and “to damage badly” (about 1200) until the 19th, surviving regionally and in African and Lebanese French (''la télé est gâtée'' “the TV is broken”).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) The reflexive ''se gâter'' “to go bad” (of fruit, meat) is in Estienne (1538), and the transitive sense “to spoil by rotting” is recorded in 1636.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Old French also had ''gaster'' “to waste (time, money)”, as in the ''Roman de la Rose''.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ From 1530 (Palsgrave) the verb meant “to spoil (a child) by indulgence”, and, from the late 17th century “to pamper, shower with attentions”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Lemaire de Belges (1511) uses it for corrupting the young.^(BHVF) ''Cela ne gâte rien'' “that does no harm” is in Voltaire.^(GLLF 1989) The derivative ''gâteux'' (1835–1836), first hospital slang for an incontinent patient, came to mean “senile”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Guastede'' “laid waste” in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1200 – “To damage”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1321 – ''Dégât''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1530 – “To spoil (a child)” in Palsgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1538 – ''Se gâter'' “to go bad”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1815 – ''Gâterie''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1835 – ''Gâteux'' in hospital slang.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|spoil]], cause to rot: ''des fruits gâtés'', ''une dent gâtée''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # To spoil, mar; to deprive of its pleasant effects: ''gâter le plaisir'', ''cela ne gâte rien''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # To spoil (a child) by over-indulgence; to [[m|en|pamper]], treat (someone) with gifts and attentions: ''un enfant gâté''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(regional, Africa)'' To damage, ''gâté'': out of order.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(reflexive)'' To go bad; of weather or a situation, to take a turn for the worse.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' To lay waste, ravage.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[gâterie]]

+ * [[gâteux]]

+ * [[dégât]]

+ * [[gâte-sauce]]

+ * [[gâtisme]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[gâtine]]

+ * [[vaste]]

+ * [[dévaster]]

+ * [[en|waste]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}