étouffer French · revision 17698

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=1230, Gaidon}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /e.tu.fe/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''étouffer'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''estofer'' (1230), ''estouffer'' (14th century); ''étouffer'' from 1564.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an alteration of Old French [[m|fro|estoper|t=to stop up, plug]] (see [[étouper]], [[étoupe]]), under the influence of another Old French verb, [[m|fro|estofer|t=to stuff, pad]] (see [[étoffer]]), which is Germanic.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Bloch and Wartburg explain it as a crossing of Latin [[m|la|stuppō|t=to stop with tow]] with that verb: the new word took the vowel of one and the consonant of the other, and its meaning, at first “to fill”, moved to the modern sense in the 15th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The Grand Robert starts from a popular Latin [[m|la-vul|*stuffō|t=to stuff with tow]].^(Grand Robert 2005) Littré reports Diez's derivation from a Romance stem meaning “vapour” and Scheler's link with [[de|stopfen]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The chanson de geste ''Gaidon'' (1230) has ''estofer'' for suffocating a living being.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From this sense came the old oath ''la peste l'étouffe !''; from the 15th century ''étouffer son ennemi'' meant to kill him.^(DHLF 1992) The Metz Parable of the Sower (1285) uses it for choking plants, and, from the 14th century it meant putting out a fire.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The intransitive “to breathe with difficulty” appears in 1559, hence “to be too hot”, and ''s'étouffer de rire'' in 1671.^(DHLF 1992) In the 16th century it took figurative senses: to suppress an opinion or feeling (1564), to muffle a sound (d'Aubigné), and later ''étouffer une affaire'', to hush it up (1671).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Cooks use it from 1767 for cooking in a closed pot, whence ''à l'étouffée''.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)^(DHLF 1992) The silkworm breeders' ''étouffage'' kills the chrysalis in the cocoon.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1230 – ''Estofer'' “to suffocate”, in ''Gaidon''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1285 – Of choking plants.^(TLFi)

+ * 1559 – Intransitive, “to breathe with difficulty”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1564 – “To suppress (a feeling)”.^(TLFi)

+ * Late 16th century – “To muffle (a sound)”, in d'Aubigné.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1671 – ''S'étouffer de rire'', ''étouffer une affaire''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1767 – The cooking sense.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To kill by preventing breathing; to [[m|en|smother|alt=smother]], [[m|en|suffocate]]: ''étouffer quelqu'un avec un oreiller''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # To make breathing difficult: ''la chaleur m'étouffe''; intransitively, to be stifled, to [[m|en|choke]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # To put out a fire by depriving it of air; to stop plants from growing.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ # To muffle a sound.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To [[m|en|suppress]], stifle an opinion, a feeling or an affair, ''étouffer dans l'œuf'', to nip in the bud.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''S'étouffer'': to choke: ''s'étouffer de rire''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(cooking)'' To cook in a closed pot.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[étouffement]]

+ * [[étouffoir]]

+ * [[étouffant]]

+ * [[étouffée]]

+ * [[étouffage]]

+ * [[touffeur]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[étoupe]]

+ * [[étoffer]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}