boire French · revision 17438

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=10th century, Vie de saint Léger|origins=ine-pro *peh₃-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bwaʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''boire'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|bevre]], [[m|fro|beivre]], [[m|fro|boivre]]; the infinitive ''boire'' appears in the early 13th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ The stem of the weak forms closed to ''buv-'': ''nous beuvons'' was still used in the 16th century beside ''nous buvons'' (1562).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|boivre]], [[inh|la|bibō|t=to drink; to soak up]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|1, 348a)^(Wiktionary) The Latin verb, which almost entirely displaced its synonym [[m|la|pōtō|t=to drink]] (see [[potable]], [[poison]]), belongs to an Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*peh₃-|t=to drink]], seen in [[grc|πίνω|tr=pínō|t=to drink]] and Sanskrit “píbati” “he drinks”; its initial ⟨b⟩ comes from assimilation to the inner one.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary) The infinitive “boire” was remade in the 13th century after “croire”, whose present “croit” was felt to match “boit”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|bere]], [[oc|beure]], [[es|beber]], [[pt|beber]] and [[ro|bea]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in the 10th-century ''Vie de saint Léger'' as ''bevvre''; the sense “to swallow a liquid” is there from the start, in the context of poison.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 12th century it is used of the Eucharist, and before the 13th it was used absolutely for drinking too much alcohol (1180–1185).^(DHLF 1992) About 1200 it took the figurative sense “to take in eagerly”, as of words.^(DHLF 1992) Of porous matter it means “to soak up” (''le buvard boit l'encre''), and of a horse ''boire l'obstacle'' is to clear it easily.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ Phrases include ''boire un coup'', ''boire la tasse'' “to swallow water while swimming”, ''boire comme un trou'' and ''il y a à boire et à manger'' “there is good and bad in it”.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) The infinitive used as a noun is found from the 10th century (''bewre'').^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 10th century – ''Bevvre'' in the ''Vie de saint Léger''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 12th century – Of the Eucharist.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1180–1185 – Absolute ''boire'' “to drink to excess”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1200 – Figurative “to take in eagerly”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * Early 13th century – The infinitive ''boire''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1539 – ''Buvette''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1740 – ''Pourboire''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|drink]], swallow a liquid: ''boire de l'eau'', ''boire un verre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(absolute)'' To drink alcohol, especially to excess: ''il boit''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # To soak up, [[m|en|absorb]]: ''le buvard boit l'encre''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To take in eagerly: ''boire les paroles de quelqu'un''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Boire à la santé de'': to drink to someone's health.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(dated)'' Drink: ''le boire et le manger''.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[beuverie]]

+ * [[breuvage]]

+ * [[buvable]]

+ * [[buvard]]

+ * [[buvette]]

+ * [[déboire]]

+ * [[fourbu]]

+ * [[imbuvable]]

+ * [[pourboire]]

+ * [[buveur]]

+ * [[boisson]]

+ * [[abreuver]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[biberon]]

+ * [[imbiber]]

+ * [[potable]]

+ * [[la|bibō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate dialect noun ''boire'', on the lower Loire, names a channel linking a river with a side branch; it is recorded in 1343, is of unknown origin, and was only later associated with the verb.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}