émouvoir

Forms

émouvoir^[1] Old French esmoveir (1080), esmouvoir (13th century).^[2][3] The form émouvoir dates from the 16th century.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French esmouvoir, inherited from Vulgar Latin *exmoveō, a remaking of classical Latin ēmoveō (“to move out, stir up”), formed from ex- and moveō (“to move”).^[4][2][1][5] The Latin verb mostly meant “to set in motion”, and Bloch and Wartburg think the sense “to move the feelings” grew up in late Latin.^[6]

Cognate with Italian smuovere and Old Occitan esmover.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1100 the Chanson de Roland uses it for “to set in motion”: Li amirals, ki trestuz les esmut “the emir, who set them all moving”.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

The physical sense “to set in motion” lasted until the 17th century and now survives only in literary use.^[6][2] The figurative sense “to stir the feelings, to trouble” appears about 1170 in the Livre des Rois, and is now the usual one.^[4][2]

Other senses grew from the first one and have died out: “to stir up” a quarrel or debate (about 1196), “to rouse to revolt” (13th century) and, in classical French, “to agitate” the humours of the body (1673).^[2][8] The verb's family shows the same shift: émeute first meant “movement, emotion”, and émotion (before 1475) moved from “trouble” and “riot” to its modern sense of a feeling (1641).^[6][2] The adjective émouvant took its modern sense “moving” in 1834.^[4][2]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Esmut “set in motion” in the Chanson de Roland.^[4]
• c. 1170 – “To trouble, stir the feelings” in the Livre des Rois.^[4]
• c. 1196 – “To stir up” a quarrel, in Jean Bodel.^[8]
• 16th century – The form émouvoir replaces esmouvoir.^[2][3]
• 1673 – Molière uses it for agitating the humours.^[8]
• 1834 – Sainte-Beuve uses émouvant in its modern sense.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To move, to touch the feelings of: Sa lettre m'a beaucoup ému.^[9][1]
2. (pronominal) S'émouvoir: to be moved or troubled, to become concerned: Le maire s'est ému de la situation.^[9][7]
3. (literary) To set in motion, to stir: Le vent émouvait les feuilles.^[9][4]
4. (dated) To stir up, to provoke a quarrel or unrest.^[7][8]

Word family

• émeute
• émotif
• ému
• émouvant
• émotion
• émotionner

Related words

• mouvoir
• Latin ēmoveō

Usage notes

The past participle ému takes no circumflex, unlike mû from mouvoir.^[3][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 300a
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. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert