Etymologically
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échanger

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /e.ʃɑ̃.ʒe/[1]

Forms

échanger[1] Old French eschangier;[2] eschanger in the 13th century, échanger from the 17th.[2]

Etymology

The TLFi and Rey take it as formed in Old French from changer with the prefix é- (Latin ex-).[3][4][2] Bloch and Wartburg and Wiktionary instead see inherited from Vulgar Latin *excambiō, whose existence they hold to be assured by Romanian schimba, and compare Italian scambiare and Old Occitan escambiar.[5][1] Either way it rests on Late Latin cambiō (“to exchange”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace uses eschangier in the Roman de Rou (1160–1174) for giving one thing and receiving another in return.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Beaumanoir in the 13th century lists escangier beside selling and giving, and Amyot in the 16th uses it for the exchange of prisoners, “man for man”.[6] With a plural subject it came to mean sending each other letters or messages (Féraud, 1787), and Balzac in 1830 uses it figuratively for exchanging words, smiles or insults.[2][3][4] It is used in chess for exchanging pieces and in finance for currencies.[4] In African French échanger without an object means to talk, to have a discussion.[4]

Timeline

  • 1160–1174 – Eschangier in Wace.[3]
  • 13th century – In Beaumanoir.[6]
  • 16th century – The exchange of prisoners, in Amyot.[6]
  • 1787 – Exchanging letters, in Féraud.[2][4]
  • 1798 – Échangeable in the Académie.[3][5]
  • 1830 – Exchanging words and smiles, in Balzac.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To give one thing and receive another in return; to exchange, swap: échanger une marchandise contre une autre.[7][2]
  2. (with a plural subject) To give each other: les mariés ont échangé leurs anneaux, échanger des timbres.[7][2]
  3. To send each other: échanger des lettres, échanger des prisonniers.[7][6]
  4. (figurative) To address to each other: échanger un regard, un sourire, échanger des injures.[7][3]
  5. (African French) To talk, have a discussion.[4]

Word family

  • échange
  • échangeable

Usage notes

Laundresses also said échanger for essanger, to soak dirty linen before washing it; the Grand Robert dates this form from 1701, and Littré calls it a barbarism.[8][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 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
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert