couler French · revision 17101

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1131, Couronnement de Louis|origins=la cōlum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ku.le/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''couler'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|cōlō|t=to filter, strain, purify]], from [[m|la|cōlum|t=sieve, strainer]], a rustic technical word of obscure origin.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|2, 877b) Already in Latin the verb had come to mean “to flow” of a liquid, and “to slide”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|colare]], [[oc|colar]], [[es|colar]] and [[pt|coar]]; [[en|colander]] comes from Old Occitan.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Couronnement de Louis'' (1131) uses it intransitively of a liquid flowing; the Cambridge Psalter (first half of the 12th century) has the transitive “to filter, refine” (silver).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 12th century it also meant to pour molten metal into something (Chrétien de Troyes, 1176), to thrust a sword into a body, and to slip (''se couler'', 1154–73).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Metalworking has ''couler le cuivre'' (Richelet, 1680), whence [[coulée]] and ''un coulé''.^(TLFi) From about 1460 it was said of time passing, and transitively (Commynes, 1498) of spending time, as in ''couler des jours heureux'', ''se la couler douce'' “to take it easy” (1835) replaced ''se la mener douce''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) Cotgrave (1611) has it for flowers and fruit dropping off unformed, as vines do after rain.^(TLFi)

+

+ The sense “to sink”, of a ship or a person, appeared in the late 16th century and became one of the commonest; transitively it means to sink a ship (17th century) and figuratively to ruin someone (1738).^(DHLF 1992) In Quebec ''couler un examen'' is to fail an exam; in the French Antilles ''couler le café'' is to make coffee.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * first half of the 12th century – “To filter”, Cambridge Psalter.^(TLFi)

+ * 1131 – “To flow”, ''Couronnement de Louis''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1176 – To pour molten lead, Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1460 – Of time passing.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * late 16th century – “To sink”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1611 – Of flowers dropping, Cotgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1835 – ''Se la couler douce''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To [[m|en|flow]], run: ''la Seine coule à Paris'', ''couler à flots'', ''couler de source'', to follow naturally.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To leak, run: ''le robinet coule'', ''avoir le nez qui coule''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To [[m|en|sink]], ''couler à pic''; figuratively, to go under, go bankrupt.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To sink (a ship); to ruin (someone, a business).^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To pour, cast (metal, concrete): ''couler une statue en bronze''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To spend (time): ''se la couler douce'', to take it easy.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To slip: ''couler un regard'', ''se couler'', to slip, glide.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(transitive, Quebec)'' To fail (an exam).^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[coulant]]

+ * [[coulée]]

+ * [[coulage]]

+ * [[coulis]]

+ * [[coulisse]]

+ * [[couloir]]

+ * [[coulure]]

+ * [[découler]]

+ * [[écouler]]

+ * [[écoulement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[percolateur]]

+ * [[la|cōlō]]

+ * [[en|colander]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}