mèche French · revision 15866

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1130, Eneas|origins=grc μύξα}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɛʃ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mèche''' ''f'' (plural mèches)^(Wiktionary)

+ [[fro|mece]] (about 1130), ''mesche'' (1393), ''meiche''; spelt ''meche'' by the Académie until 1718.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|mece]], [[inh|la-vul|*micca|t=wick]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) a Gallo-Romance alteration, under the influence of [[la|mūcus|alt=muccus|t=mucus]], of [[la|myxa|t=lamp wick]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|6/3, 323a) which is from [[grc|μύξα|tr=múxa|t=mucus; lamp wick]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The same image links the wick and the nose in [[moucher]] “to snuff (a candle); to blow (the nose)”, and eastern dialects again crossed “mèche” with “moucher”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Rey connects the Greek word with the Indo-European root seen in [[moisir]] and [[moite]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ P. Guiraud proposed instead a crossing with a derivative of [[la|misceō|t=to mix]].^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005) [[it|miccia]] and [[es|mecha]] come from French.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Roman d'Eneas'' (about 1130–1160) has ''mece'', a cord of hemp or other fibre coated with tallow or wax for candles, or soaked in oil for a lamp.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the 13th century it also named material prepared to catch fire easily, such as sulphured ''mesches'' (about 1393),^(TLFi) and then the slow match used to fire guns and mines.^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873) The sappers' phrase ''éventer la mèche'', “to find the enemy's mine with a countermine and remove its fuse” (about 1580), took the figurative sense “to uncover a plot” (1690), with ''découvrir la mèche'' (1594) and ''vendre la mèche'' “to give the game away” (1830);^(TLFi)^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992) Bloch and Wartburg note that the last phrase shows the literal sense had been forgotten.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ By likeness of shape the word named a strip of gauze for dressing wounds (1266, 1478), a lock of hair (about 1300), the bit of a drill (1676), a strand in the core of a rope (1691) and the cracker of a whip (1835).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The derivative ''éméché'' “tipsy” (1859–1866) is properly “with tousled hair”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1130 – ''Mece'' in the ''Eneas''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1266 – A strip of linen used in treating wounds.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1300 – A lock of hair.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1393 – ''Mesches ensouffrées'' in the ''Ménagier de Paris''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1580 – ''Esvanter la mesche''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1676 – A drill bit, in Félibien.^(TLFi)

+ * 1830 – ''Vendre la mèche''.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|wick]] (of a candle or lamp).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # A [[m|en|fuse]] (of an explosive): ''allumer la mèche'', ''vendre la mèche'': to let the cat out of the bag.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # A lock or strand of hair; a streak: ''se faire faire des mèches''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A drill bit.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A strip of gauze used as packing in a wound.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The cracker at the end of a whip.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mécher]]

+ * [[éméché]]

+ * [[éméché]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[moucher]]

+ * [[grc|μύξα|tr=múxa]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The familiar ''être de mèche (avec qqn)'' “to be in league (with someone)” (1793) and ''il n'y a pas mèche'' “there's no way” (1808) belong to a second ''mèche'' (1791), first found in printers' slang.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(BHVF) Its origin is uncertain: Sainéan derived it from Provençal ''mech'' “half” and Esnault from [[it|mezzo|t=half; means]], both hard to accept on phonetic grounds, while Wartburg linked it to this word.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}