tuer French · revision 16325

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1140, Grant mal fist Adam|origins=la tueor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (France): /tɥe/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (France): /ty.e/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Quebec): /t͡sɥe/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Quebec): /t͡sy.e/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tuer'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|tuer|t=to kill; to put out]], [[inh|la|tūtor|t=to protect, guard; to ward off]], in its popular form “tūtāre”, a frequentative of [[m|la|tueor|t=to look at; to watch over, protect]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|13/2, 446a) From the 1st century Latin used “tutare famem, sitim” “to ward off hunger, thirst” in place of “exstinguere famem, sitim”, so that the verb came to mean “to put out” and then “to kill”, Medieval Latin has “tutare candelam” “to put out a candle”.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) Rey links the shift to the ancient belief that fire was a living being, which led many languages to speak of “silencing” or “calming” a fire.^(DHLF 1992) The sense “to put out” survived in classical French (Malherbe) and in dialects from Brittany to Savoy.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ The derivation is not undisputed: the Grand Robert calls the origin uncertain, noting that Old French “tuer” first meant “to strike, stun”, like Latin “tundere”, Littré rejected both “tūtārī” and a Germanic source and proposed a Latin “tuditare” “to strike”.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873) Rey compares “tueor”, itself of uncertain origin, with Vedic “távīti” “he is strong”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Only French and Occitan have this verb: compare [[pro|tudar|t=to put out; to kill]], [[oc|tuar]], and [[it|attutare|t=to put out; to calm]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found about 1140, in the poem ''Grant mal fist Adam'', in the sense “to take someone's life violently”; at the same date Gaimar uses it for “to knock senseless”, and about 1150 ''soi tuer'' means “to faint”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb was soon used of slaughtering animals (about 1200, ''tuer le cochon'', 1690) and of game (1551).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In the 16th century it meant “to cause the death of”, said of grief or a bad remedy (1553), later of an illness and of frost killing plants (1690).^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''Se tuer'' “to kill oneself” dates from 1538 and “to be killed in an accident” from 1718, ''se tuer'' “to wear oneself out” is much older (about 1276), with ''se tuer à'' (1659).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The idea of destruction spread to abstractions: ''tuer l'espoir'' (1616), ''tuer le temps'' (1608), a colour killed by contrast (1746).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Tuer'' “to put out (a fire)” is recorded in 1468, and “to bore to death” in 1549.^(TLFi) The derivatives [[tueur]] (about 1205) and [[tuerie]] (1350) and the phrase ''à tue-tête'' (1658) followed.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Colloquially ''ça tue'' now means “it's terrific”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1140 – “To kill”, in ''Grant mal fist Adam''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1150 – ''Soi tuer'' “to faint”.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1205 – ''Tueur''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * c. 1276 – ''Soi tuer'' “to wear oneself out”, in Adam de la Halle.^(TLFi)

+ * 1468 – ''Tuher'' “to put out (a fire)”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1538 – ''Se tuer'' “to commit suicide”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1608 – ''Tuer le temps'' in Régnier.^(TLFi)

+ * 1658 – ''À tue-tête'' in Scarron.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1718 – ''Se tuer'' “to be killed in an accident”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|kill]]: ''tuer quelqu'un d'un coup de couteau''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # To [[m|en|slaughter]] (an animal); to kill (game).^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # To cause the death of: ''Le froid a tué les plantes.''^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # To destroy, ruin: ''tuer l'espoir'', ''tuer le temps'', to kill time.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # To exhaust, wear out: ''Ce bruit me tue'', ''se tuer au travail''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Se tuer'': to kill oneself; to be killed in an accident.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' To be terrific: ''Ça tue !''^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(regional, dated)'' To put out (a fire, a light).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[tuerie]]

+ * [[tueur]]

+ * [[tue-tête]]

+ * [[entretuer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tuteur]]

+ * [[tutelle]]

+ * [[la|tūtor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}