English
griffonage
Griffonage comes from French griffonner ‘to scribble, scrawl’, from griffer ‘to scratch’, and ultimately from Old French grifer.
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400grifer
- Frenchc. 1600–presentgriffer‘to scratch’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentgriffonner‘to scribble, scrawl’
- Englishearliest quotation 1832griffonage
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400grifer
- Frenchc. 1600–presentgriffer‘to scratch’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentgriffonner‘to scribble, scrawl’
- Englishearliest quotation 1832griffonage
Earliest quotation: 1832, Frances Milton Trollope, Domestic Manners of the Americans: “We hastened to pack up our ‘trumpery’..and among the…”
Every English word from Old French grifer
Today it means
noun Careless handwriting; a crude or illegible scrawl.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old French grifer / griffonage