coucher French · revision 17358

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (soi colcer)|origins=la locō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ku.ʃe/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''coucher'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|colcer]] (about 1050), ''culcer'', ''culcher'' (1080), ''couchier'' (1172); ''coucher'' from the end of the 14th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|colcer]], [[inh|la|collocō|t=to place, set in position]], from [[m|la|com-]] and [[m|la|locō|t=to place]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|2, 905a)^(Wiktionary) In Latin “collocāre” was already used of placing something horizontally; from the Vulgate on, “se collocare” and “collocare super lectulum” meant “to go to bed, put to bed”, a sense also found in [[ro|culca]] and [[it|coricare]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) It is a doublet of the learned [[colloquer]].^(Wiktionary) “Locō” also gave [[louer]] “to rent”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found about 1050 in the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' as the reflexive ''soi colcer avoc'', “to share someone's bed”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) ''se coucher'' means “to lie down for the night”, and is said of the setting sun, ''soleil culchant'' “west” is in Wace (1155).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The transitive “to put to bed” is in Chrétien de Troyes (1172), and “to lay down at full length” in the ''Roland''.^(TLFi) The familiar ''coucher avec'' “to sleep with” dates from 1539, and ''allez vous coucher !'' “go away!” from 1835.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Old French ''coucher'' also meant “to write down” (13th–17th centuries), as in ''coucher par écrit''; the military “to aim at” (''coucher en joue'') belongs to the same idea of laying something flat.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) ''Se coucher'' replaced Old French ''gésir'', as [[accoucher]] replaced ''agésir''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The infinitive became a noun, ''le coucher'', recorded as ''couchier'' in 1285.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Soi colcer avoc'' in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Sei culcer'' “to lie down”; of a star, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1172 – “To put to bed”, in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 12th century – ''Couche'', ''accoucher''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1285 – The noun ''couchier''.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1539 – ''Coucher avec'', in Robert Estienne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1835 – ''Allez vous coucher !''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To lay down, lay flat: ''coucher un blessé''; to flatten (wheat).^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # To put to bed; to put up (a guest).^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Se coucher'': to go to bed; to lie down, ''(of the sun)'' to set.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' To sleep, spend the night: ''coucher à l'hôtel''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Coucher avec'': to sleep with ''(familiar)''.^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Coucher par écrit'': to set down in writing, ''coucher en joue'': to aim at.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Going to bed: ''l'heure du coucher''; the setting: ''le coucher du soleil''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[couche]]

+ * [[couchage]]

+ * [[couchette]]

+ * [[coucheur]]

+ * [[couchant]]

+ * [[accoucher]]

+ * [[découcher]]

+ * [[recoucher]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[colloquer]]

+ * [[louer]]

+ * [[lieu]]

+ * [[la|collocō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}