fusil French · revision 16939

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 1105, Rashi's glosses|origins=la focus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fy.zi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fusil''' ''m'' (plural fusils)^(Wiktionary)

+ Judeo-French ''foisil'' (before 1105), Old French [[m|fro|focil]] (1174–1178), [[m|fro|fuisil]] (12th century); ''fusil'' from about 1244.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|foisil]], [[inh|la-vul|*focīlis|t=producing fire]], probably short for a phrase meaning “fire stone”, from [[la|focus|t=hearth, fire]];^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|3, 650a) Isidore has a similar phrase with [[m|la|focāris]] for flint.^(TLFi) The form [[m|fro|fuisil]], the source of the modern word, is an irregular development.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Compare [[it|fucile]].^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Rashi's glosses (before 1105) have ''foisil'', the piece of steel struck against a flint to make sparks.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By analogy it named the steel rod used to sharpen knives (13th century), the ''fusil de boucher''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In the old firearms it was the steel plate struck by the flint (about 1630), and by metonymy the firearm itself, recorded by Pomey in 1671; the weapon is said to have been invented in France in 1630 and to have replaced the musket in 1671.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) It then took over from other terms for the long-barrelled individual firearm.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ It also means a marksman (1888).^(DHLF 1992) ''Changer son fusil d'épaule'' “to change one's mind or plans” is in Verlaine (1894), and ''coup de fusil'' has been an exorbitant bill since 1887.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) In slang the hollow barrel gave “throat, stomach”: Gavroche says ''colle-toi ça dans le fusil'' in ''Les Misérables'' (1862).^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) The derivatives [[fusilier]] (1589), [[fusiller]] (1732) and [[fusillade]] (1790) followed the weapon.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1105 – ''Foisil'' in Rashi's glosses.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1244 – The form ''fusil''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 13th century – A sharpening steel.^(TLFi)

+ * 1589 – ''Fusilier''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * c. 1630 – The steel of a flintlock.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1671 – A firearm (Pomey).^(TLFi)

+ * 1732 – ''Fusiller''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1862 – Slang “stomach”, in Hugo.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1887 – ''Coup de fusil'' “exorbitant bill”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1894 – ''Changer son fusil d'épaule''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|gun]], [[m|en|rifle]]: ''fusil de chasse'', a shotgun, ''fusil d'assaut'', an assault rifle.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A marksman: ''un bon fusil''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A sharpening steel for knives.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(historical)'' The steel struck against a flint to make sparks, ''pierre à fusil'', a flint.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Changer son fusil d'épaule'': to change one's plans or opinions, ''coup de fusil'': an exorbitant bill, ''en chien de fusil'': curled up.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(slang, dated)'' The stomach.^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fusil-mitrailleur]]

+ * [[fusilier]]

+ * [[fusillade]]

+ * [[fusiller]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[feu]]

+ * [[foyer]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}