Etymologically
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éprouver

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /e.pʁu.ve/[1]

Forms

éprouver[1] Old French esprover, esprouver (13th century); éprouver in Monet (1636).[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French é- + prouver, with the intensive prefix “es-” from Latin ex-.[4][2][5][3][6] “Prouver” comes from Latin probō (“to test; to approve; to prove”), and itself meant “to put to the test” until the 16th century, especially in the participle.[7][1]

Compare Old Occitan esproar.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) the participle esprovet means “tested, proven”: de vasselage est esprovet “his valour has been proven”.[4][8]

Semantic evolution

From the 12th century it also meant to find out by personal experience (1155, Wace), with esprover que about 1175; in religion it was to tempt (13th century).[4][2] In 1273 it came to mean “to feel” (a desire, tenderness), and in the 13th century to make someone suffer trials.[2][3] Classical French used it with an adjective for “to find”, and, from 1718 it says of things that they suffer damage.[2] Its noun épreuve dates from about 1175.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Esprovet “proven”, Chanson de Roland.[4]
  • 1155 – “To find out”, Wace.[4]
  • 1273 – “To feel”.[2][3]
  • 1636 – The spelling éprouver, Monet.[3]
  • 1718 – To suffer damage.[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To test, try out: éprouver la résistance d'un matériau; to put to the test: éprouver la fidélité d'un ami.[9][1]
  2. To feel, experience (a sensation or emotion): éprouver de la joie, une douleur.[2][1]
  3. To go through, undergo: éprouver des difficultés; to suffer (damage).[1][2]
  4. To afflict, make suffer: une région durement éprouvée.[2][3]
  5. Éprouvé: proven, tried: un courage éprouvé.[2]

Word family

  • épreuve
  • éprouvette
  • éprouvant

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 405a
  7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert