éclater French · revision 16621

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1150, Lapidaire (esclater)|origins=frk *slaitan}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /e.kla.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''éclater'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''esclater'', ''éclater'' from the 17th century.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|esclater]], usually taken as [[bor|frk|*slaitan|t=to split, break]], inferred from [[goh|sleizan|t=to tear]] and German “verschleißen” “to wear out (clothes)”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989) The /t/ was kept because the Germanic and the romanized forms lived side by side through the long bilingual Merovingian period; [[it|schiattare]] would come from the matching Lombardic form.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) Wiktionary gives Old High German “skleizan” or [[frk|*slītan]], from [[gem-pro|*slītaną|t=to tear apart]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Pierre Guiraud proposed instead a popular Latin “*exclaccitare”, from the imitative root “clacc-” of [[claquer]], citing dialect forms such as ''s'éclaquer de rire''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Compare [[pro|esclatar]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A ''Lapidaire'' from before 1150 has ''esclater'' once, “to come apart”; in Chrétien de Troyes's ''Lancelot'' (1176–1181) a lance shatters.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Rabelais (1552, 1564) uses it for bursting violently and noisily, flinging out pieces, and ''s'esclater de rire'' “to burst out laughing” (1552), later ''éclater de rire'' (1640).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) From the 16th century it also meant “to shine”: Thierry (1564), and ''esclatant'' of bright colours in Montaigne.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ In Corneille (1640–1643) it means to break out suddenly, as a war or a scandal does, to lose one's temper, and to become plainly visible: ''sa mauvaise foi éclate''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The general sense “to make a sudden loud noise” is recorded only in 1671.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) About 1968 ''s'éclater'' came to mean “to have a great time”.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1150 – ''Esclater'', ''Lapidaire''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1176–1181 – A lance shatters, Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1552 – ''S'esclater de rire'', Rabelais.^(TLFi)

+ * 1564 – “To shine”, Thierry.^(TLFi)

+ * 1640 – ''Éclater de rire''; to break out, Corneille.^(TLFi)

+ * 1671 – “To make a loud noise”, Pomey.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1968 – ''S'éclater'' “to have a ball”.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|burst]], explode, shatter: ''la bombe a éclaté'', ''un pneu qui éclate''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To ring out, resound: ''des applaudissements éclatèrent'', ''éclater de rire'', ''éclater en sanglots''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To break out suddenly: ''la guerre éclata'', ''un scandale a éclaté''; to blow up in anger.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # To be obvious, shine forth: ''la vérité éclate'', ''(literary)'' to sparkle.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To split up, break apart (of a group).^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''S'éclater'': to have a great time.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[éclat]]

+ * [[éclatant]]

+ * [[éclatement]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}