chagrin French · revision 15886

+ French has two words spelled ''chagrin'': one meaning “sorrow, grief”, formed in French, and the name of a grained leather, borrowed from Turkish.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ {{homograph|1|sorrow}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=derivation|attested=1389}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʃa.ɡʁɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''chagrin''' ''m'' (plural chagrins)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The adjective and noun meaning “sorrow” are probably formed from the verb [[chagriner]], although the adjective (1389) is recorded earlier than the verb (1424).^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Bloch and Wartburg take the verb to be a compound of [[chat]] and [[m|frm|grigner|t=to grimace, grumble]], comparing [[de|Katzenjammer]] “hangover”, literally “cats' lament”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The FEW files it under [[frk|*grīnan|t=to grimace]],^(FEW|16, 68b) and Wiktionary suggests a Frankish word akin to [[de|Gram|t=grief]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Littré thought instead that it was the name of the rough leather used for polishing, applied by metaphor to a gnawing sorrow;^(Littré 1873) the Dictionnaire historique notes that the leather word itself was later altered under the influence of this one.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The adjective is first found in 1389 (Jean Le Petit), meaning “saddened (by some annoying event)”.^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun follows in 1450.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007) In 15th- and 16th-century texts it is spelled ''chalgrin'' and ''chagryn'';^(Littré 1873) Palsgrave (1530) writes that ''chagryn'' makes people old before their time.^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In the 17th century it meant irritation or bad temper, as in Molière's “Quel chagrin vous possède ?”;^(Petit Robert 2007) the modern sense “grief, sorrow” then prevailed.^(Petit Robert 2007) The adjective meant “inclined to discontent, morose” from 1534 (Rabelais) and is now dated or literary.^(GLLF 1989)^(Le Robert)

+

+ The proverb ''araignée du matin, chagrin'' (“a spider in the morning means sorrow”) is recorded from 1812.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1389 – The adjective appears.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1424 – First record of the verb ''chagriner''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1450 – The noun “sorrow” appears.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ * 1534 – Rabelais uses the adjective for a morose temper.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1812 – ''Araignée du matin, chagrin'' recorded.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|grief|alt=Grief]], [[m|en|sorrow]]: a painful state of mind.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Un chagrin'': a particular sorrow or disappointment: ''un chagrin d'amour''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(17th century)'' Irritation, bad temper.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(dated)'' Saddened, distressed.^(Le Robert)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ # ''(literary)'' Morose, [[m|en|gloomy]]: ''un esprit chagrin''.^(Le Robert)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[chagriner]]

+ * [[chagrinant]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|leather}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=late 16th century, Palerne|origins=tr sağrı}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʃa.ɡʁɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''chagrin''' ''m'' (plural chagrins)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The leather is [[bor|tr|sağrı|t=rump of an animal; leather made from it]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|19, 149a) the hide from the hindquarters.^(DHLF 1992) It appears first as “sagrin”, then “chagrain”, and the change from s to ch is probably due to the influence of [[chagrin#1]] “sorrow”;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Bloch and Wartburg see a crossing with [[grain]] instead.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Littré compares Venetian “sagrin” and [[it|zigrino]],^(Littré 1873) which Bloch and Wartburg say comes from French.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ ''Peau de sagrin'' is found in Jean Palerne's account of his travels (late 16th century, printed in 1606), an isolated form;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''peau de chagrain'' follows in 1648 and ''chagrin'' in 1655.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The spellings ''chagrain'' and ''chagrin'' competed through the 17th and 18th centuries.^(TLFi) The word names a grained leather of mule, donkey, horse or goat skin used in bookbinding and fine leather goods.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007) ''Peau de chagrin'' entered general use as a figure of something that keeps shrinking, after Balzac's novel ''La Peau de chagrin'' (1831).^(DHLF 1992) The derived verb ''chagriner'' “to grain (a hide)” dates from 1784.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 16th century – ''Peau de sagrin'' in Palerne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1648 – ''Peau de chagrain''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1655 – ''Chagrin'' in Borel's ''Trésor''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1831 – Balzac's ''La Peau de chagrin''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|shagreen|alt=Shagreen]], a grained leather used in [[m|en|bookbinding]]: ''relié en plein chagrin''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # [[m|en|sharkskin|alt=Sharkskin]] with abrasive denticles.^(Larousse)

+ # ''Peau de chagrin'': something that keeps shrinking.^(DHLF 1992)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|chagrin]]

+ * [[en|shagreen]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}