drôle French · revision 17284

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=late 15th century, Basselin, Vaux-de-Vire (drolle)|origins=dum drol}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dʁol/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''drôle''' (plural drôles)^(Wiktionary)

+ First ''drolle'' (late 15th century) and ''draule'' (1549); ''drôle'' in Richelet (1680).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably [[bor|dum|drol|t=goblin, little fellow]], figuratively “merry companion”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|15/2, 72a) Rey calls the Dutch word of unknown origin and finds its link with the Scandinavian [[non|troll]] difficult, Wiktionary traces it to Old Norse “troll” and [[gem-pro|*truzlą]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Sainéan proposed a native source, Picard “droller”, which the FEW attaches to another etymon, “*tragulare”.^(TLFi)

+

+ [[en|droll]] (1620s) was borrowed from French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first a noun: in Basselin's ''Vaux-de-Vire'' (late 15th century, known from an edition of about 1670) ''tous les drolles mes compaignons'' are merry companions.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The noun meant a jolly fellow and a rake (16th century), then a rogue to be wary of (Scarron, 1652) and a contemptible person (1718); these senses have aged.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Petit drôle'' was a sly child (La Fontaine, 1688), and in southern France ''drôle'' came to mean a boy, a kid, a use found from 1739 and in southern writers such as Daudet and Mauriac.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ As an adjective (1636) it described a person who makes people laugh, then a situation or thing (Molière, 1670).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Un drôle de'' “a strange” is recorded in 1664, and with an intensive value (“a hell of a”) in Eugène Sue (1842–43); ''tout drôle'' “funny, odd (in oneself)” is in Baudelaire (1851).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) Rey compares the double sense of English ''funny''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 15th century – ''Drolle'' “merry fellow”, Basselin.^(TLFi)

+ * 1549 – ''Draule''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1636 – The adjective “amusing”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1652 – “Rogue”, Scarron.^(TLFi)

+ * 1664 – ''Un drôle de'' “a strange”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1739 – ''Mon drôle'' “my son”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1842–43 – Intensive ''drôle de'', Eugène Sue.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|funny]], amusing: ''une histoire drôle''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # [[m|en|strange]], odd: ''c'est drôle qu'il ne soit pas venu'', ''un drôle de type'', ''se sentir tout drôle''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''Drôle de'' (intensive): tremendous: ''un drôle de courage''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(archaic)'' A [[m|en|rascal]], rogue.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(southern France)'' A child, a boy (feminine ''drôlesse'', a girl).^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[drôlement]]

+ * [[drôlerie]]

+ * [[drôlesse]]

+ * [[drolatique]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|droll]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}