foule French · revision 17008

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=back-formation|attested=1172, Chrétien de Troyes, Yvain|origins=la fullō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ful/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''foule''' ''f'' (plural foules)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a deverbal noun from [[fouler]] “to press, tread”, at first “the place where one is pressed, jostled”, then “a mass of people pressing together”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) [[presse]] went the same way from [[presser]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) That verb comes from [[la-vul|*fullō|t=to full cloth]], formed on [[la|fullō|t=fuller]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|3, 844b) Wiktionary instead derives the crowd sense from [[fro|foulc|t=people, multitude]], from [[frk|*folc|t=people]], altered under the influence of the noun meaning “treading”.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|folla]], [[pro|fola]] and [[pt|fula]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Chrétien de Troyes's ''Yvain'' (1172) uses it for a multitude of people pressing together.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The ''Roman de la Rose'' has ''Quant entrée estes dans la foule, Où chascun vous hurte et defoule…'' “when you have entered the crowd, where everyone shoves and tramples you”.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Middle French it also meant oppression, an exaction (''ceste foule'', La Noue).^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary) Racine (1670) has ''la foule'' for the common run of people, as opposed to an elite.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Robert Estienne (1538) records ''une foule de'' “a great number of”, also applied to things.^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) In the 19th century ''la foule'' became a subject of sociology, a group with a collective psychology (''psychologie des foules'').^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Modern phrases are ''en foule'' “in crowds”, ''il y a foule'' and ''bain de foule'' “walkabout”.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1172 – A crowd, Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1265 – ''Foule'' “action of treading”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1538 – ''Une foule de'', Robert Estienne.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1670 – “The common people”, Racine.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – The fulling of cloth, Furetière.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|crowd]], a throng of people: ''se perdre dans la foule'', ''un mouvement de foule'', ''il y a foule'', it is crowded.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''La foule'': the masses, the common people, as opposed to an elite.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Une foule de'': a great number of, a [[m|en|host]] of: ''une foule de questions''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''En foule'': in great numbers.^(TLFi)

+ # ''Bain de foule'': a walkabout.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fouler]]

+ * [[foulée]]

+ * [[foulon]]

+ * [[refouler]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The Grand Robert and the TLFi give a separate numbered entry to the technical ''foule'' “fulling” (of cloth or felt, 1690), now used in weaving for the pressure of the weaver's foot on the treadles.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}