camoufler French · revision 16040

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=1821}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ka.mu.fle/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''camoufler'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It was probably formed with the ending “-er” on the stem of [[camouflet]], the idea of concealment coming from that of smoke,^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) rather than borrowed from [[it|camuffare|t=to disguise, make unrecognisable]] (late 13th–early 14th century, “to deceive”, 15th century), as some had thought; that hypothesis would in any case need “camouflet” to explain the ⟨fl⟩.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Wiktionary takes “camouflet” itself from the Italian verb.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Thieves' slang has the reflexive ''se camoufler'' “to disguise oneself” in 1821, and Vidocq's ''Les Voleurs'' (1836) the transitive “to disguise”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ At first a slang word, it also meant “to doctor” a drink (1878), and was used in the theatre.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) During the First World War it became a military term for hiding equipment from the enemy (Barbusse, 1916, Loti's ''canons… bien camouflés''), with figurative uses (''camoufler une faute'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) ''Camouflage'' (1887) took on the same senses and was specialised for military concealment by the end of the war.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1821 – ''Se camoufler''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1836 – In Vidocq.^(TLFi)

+ * 1878 – “To doctor (a drink)”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1887 – ''Camouflage''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1914–1918 – In military use.^(TLFi)

+ * 1916 – In Barbusse, ''camoufleur''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|camouflage]], disguise (so as to be unrecognisable or invisible): ''camoufler du matériel de guerre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To hide, cover up: ''camoufler une faute'', ''camoufler un meurtre en suicide''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(reflexive)'' To camouflage oneself.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[camouflage]]

+ * [[camouflage]]

+ * [[camoufleur]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[camouflet]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}