marcher French · revision 16390

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1165–1170 (marchier, “to trample”)|origins=frk *markōn}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /maʁ.ʃe/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''marcher'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''marchier''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|marchier|t=to tread, trample]], [[inh|frk|*markōn|t=to mark, imprint (a step)]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) The Frankish verb, from [[gem-pro|*markōną]], is attested by [[goh|marcōn|t=to mark out, set bounds]] and [[non|marka|t=to mark]], and belongs to the family of [[marquer]], [[marche]] “border province” and [[marge]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Littré records the earlier explanations, from “marche” “frontier” (Diez), from Latin “mercārī” or from a Germanic word for “horse”, all refuted when Scheler showed that the oldest sense was “to press with the foot”.^(Littré 1873) [[es|marchar]], [[it|marciare]], [[de|marschieren]] and English “march” were borrowed from French, from the 16th century especially as a military term.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ About 1170 Marie de France's ''Eliduc'' uses it transitively, “to trample underfoot”; in Chrétien de Troyes's ''Yvain'' a horse ''marcha le fust'', “stepped on the beam”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old French the basic sense was “to tread on, trample”, kept in the technical sense “to knead with the feet” (clay) and in eastern dialects “to thresh”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) ''Marcher sur'' “to set foot on” dates from 1178, and the intransitive sense “to walk” from about 1180, Bloch and Wartburg date its general use to the 15th century.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Troops ''marchent'' from the late 15th century.^(TLFi) In the 17th century it was said of a mechanism that works (Corneille, 1643) and of an affair that goes well (1690), now very common (''ça marche'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Faire marcher quelqu'un'' meant “to get one's way with someone” (1756), then “to pull someone's leg” (1852), and ''marcher'' alone “to go along with” (1800) and “to be taken in”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) A play ''marche'' when it succeeds (Beaumarchais, 1785).^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1170 – ''Marchier'' “to trample” in Marie de France.^(TLFi)

+ * 1178 – ''Marcher sur'' in the ''Roman de Renart''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1180 – “To walk”, in the ''Proverbes au vilain''.^(TLFi)

+ * Late 15th century – Of troops on the move.^(TLFi)

+ * 1611 – ''Marcher à quatre pattes'' in Cotgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1643 – Of a mechanism, in Corneille.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – ''Cette affaire marche bien''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1852 – ''Faire marcher'' “to fool”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|walk]]: ''marcher vite'', ''un enfant qui commence à marcher''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|march]], advance: ''marcher sur la ville'', ''marcher vers''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Marcher sur'': to step on, tread on: ''marcher sur les pieds de quelqu'un''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Of a machine, to run, work; of an affair, to go well: ''ça marche''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(familiar)'' To go along with something; to be taken in: ''faire marcher quelqu'un''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(technical, dated)'' To knead with the feet: ''marcher l'argile''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[marcheur]]

+ * [[démarche]]

+ * [[marchepied]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[border]]

+ * [[côtoyer]]

+ * [[courir]]

+ * [[longer]]

+ * [[promener]]

+ * [[marquer]]

+ * [[en|march]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The infinitive used as a noun, ''le marcher'', “the way one walks”, dates from 1538.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}