souffle French · revision 16664

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=c. 1160, Eneas (sofle)|origins=la flō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sufl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''souffle''' ''m'' (plural souffles)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''sofle'', ''souffle'' from about 1220 (Gautier de Coinci).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a deverbal noun formed from [[souffler]].^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary) The verb continues [[la|sufflō|t=to blow on, blow up]], from [[m|la|sub-]] and [[m|la|flō|t=to blow]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Roman d'Eneas'' (about 1160) has ''sofle'' for the movement of air made by breathing out with some force.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Gérard Bible (1553) uses it for breath and breathing, and ''dernier souffle'' “last breath” is in Monet (1636).^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Bonivard (1562) has it for inspiration, and La Fontaine (1671) for an animating force.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) Montchrestien (1604) uses it for a breath of wind, Monet (1636) for the rush of air of a cannon, and in 1909 it names the blast of an explosion.^(TLFi) In medicine it denotes a heart murmur (1833, ''bruit de souffle'', 1837).^(TLFi)

+

+ Figurative phrases are mostly modern: ''manquer de souffle'' (1846), ''le souffle coupé'' (1885), ''à bout de souffle'' “exhausted” (Zola, 1887, Godard's film, 1960) and ''second souffle'', first in sport (1907) and then in journalism (1964).^(TLFi) English took the past participle [[en|soufflé]] as a cookery term in 1803.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1160 – ''Sofle'', ''Eneas''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1553 – Breath, breathing.^(TLFi)

+ * 1562 – “Inspiration”, Bonivard.^(TLFi)

+ * 1604 – A breath of wind, Montchrestien.^(TLFi)

+ * 1636 – ''Dernier souffle'', ''souffle du canon'', Monet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1833 – Heart murmur.^(TLFi)

+ * 1887 – ''À bout de souffle'', Zola.^(TLFi)

+ * 1907 – ''Second souffle'', in sport.^(TLFi)

+ * 1909 – The blast of an explosion.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A puff of air blown from the mouth: ''éteindre les bougies d'un seul souffle''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|breath]], breathing, ''retenir son souffle'', ''jusqu'à son dernier souffle''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Capacity for breathing, wind: ''avoir du souffle'', ''manquer de souffle'', ''à bout de souffle'', out of breath, exhausted, ''second souffle'', second wind.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # A breath of wind, [[m|en|gust]].^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # The [[m|en|blast]] of an explosion.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # [[m|en|inspiration]], creative force: ''le souffle du génie''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A [[m|en|murmur]]: ''souffle au cœur''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[essoufflé]]

+ * [[essouffler]]

+ * [[à bout de souffle]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[souffler]]

+ * [[soufflerie]]

+ * [[soufflé]]

+ * [[soufflet]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}