écarter

Pronunciation

• IPA: /e.kaʁ.te/^[1]

Forms

écarter^[1] Old French escarter.^[2][3]

Etymology

It probably continues inherited from Vulgar Latin *exquartō (“to divide into four”), from ex- with intensive force and quartus (“fourth”) (see quart);^{[4][5][6][2][3][7]} the original sense, kept in Italian squartare, is “to quarter”, whence “to separate”, the only sense found in French.^[6][5] See also écarteler.^[2]

Pierre Guiraud proposed instead Vulgar Latin *excoartō (“to loosen, separate”), from coartō (“to press together”).^[5][2] Littré derived all its senses from discarding at cards, from carte, but admitted a confusion with esquarter;^[8][1] Wiktionary reports Pianigiani's Latin excerpō (“to pick out”).^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A late 13th-century Chronique de Terre Sainte has avoir escarté l'ost, “to have moved away from the main army”.^[4][5] The GLLF gives 1249, escarter “to move away from”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The reflexive “to move off, go aside” is in the Mystère du Viel Testament (about 1450), and the transitive “to put at a distance” in Montchrestien (1604).^[4][5] In 1573 it is used for spreading the parts of a thing apart, and in Noël du Fail (1585) s'écarter is to wander from a subject, whence s'écarter de la raison (Du Ryer, 1647).^[4][5] Racine (1672) uses it figuratively for keeping something away from someone, a danger for instance, and, from 1690 it means to set aside an idea.^[4][5]

In some French regions it means to spread out, as washing to dry, and in Canada, by extension of “to put aside”, “to mislay”.^[5] The noun écart (about 1200) followed it in concrete and abstract senses.^[5][6]

Timeline

• 1249 – Escarter “to move away”.^[3]
• Late 13th century – Avoir escarté l'ost.^[4]
• c. 1450 – S'écarter “to go aside”.^[4]
• 1557 – écartement.^[6]
• 1573 – “To spread apart”.^[4]
• 1585 – S'écarter “to digress”, Noël du Fail.^[4]
• 1604 – “To keep at a distance”, Montchrestien.^[4]
• 1672 – Figurative “to keep away”, Racine.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To move apart, spread, open: écarter les doigts, les bras, écarter les rideaux.^[9][1]
2. To move away, push aside: écarter la foule, écarter une table du mur.^[9]
3. To keep away, avert: écarter un danger.^[5][4]
4. To dismiss, rule out, reject; to remove someone from a post.^[1][5]
5. S'écarter: to move aside, step away; to deviate, stray: s'écarter du sujet.^[1][5]
6. (Canada, Louisiana) To lose, s'écarter, to get lost.^[5][1]

Word family

• écart
• écartement

Related words

• quart
• écarteler

Usage notes

A separate verb écarter “to discard” at cards (Cotgrave, 1611) is formed from carte, perhaps influenced by Italian scartare; its past participle gave the card game écarté (1810).^[4][2][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 315a
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert