Etymologically
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étendre

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /e.tɑ̃dʁ/[1]

Forms

étendre[1] Old French estendre, étendre from the 17th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French estendre, inherited from Latin extendere (“to stretch out, widen”),[4][5][6][7] from “ex-” with intensive value and Latin tendere (“to stretch”) (see tendre), which belongs to an Indo-European root “*ten-” “to stretch”.[5][4]

Compare Old Occitan estendre, Spanish extender, Portuguese estender and Italian stendere.[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Oxford Psalter (early 12th century) has estendrai la tue vie de generaciun en generaciun, I will stretch out your life from generation to generation: to extend in time.[4][5]

Semantic evolution

About 1165 Benoît de Sainte-Maure used it in space, of arms stretched out, and for laying someone at full length, especially knocking him to the ground (mort l'estent, he strikes him dead).[4][5][8] From this sense come étendre sur le carreau (1600) and, in 20th-century popular speech, “to knock down” and “to fail” (se faire étendre à un examen, 1929).[5][2]

In 1283 Beaumanoir used it reflexively for growing longer, wider or more important, the sense of étendre son pouvoir and s'étendre sur un sujet.[4][5] Stendhal (1827) has un acide étendu d'eau, diluted.[4] The past participle étendu became an adjective “extensive” (un savoir étendu), and étendue (1404) replaced Old French estente, étendoir dates from 1687 and étendage from 1756.[5][6]

Timeline

  • Early 12th century – Estendre in the Oxford Psalter.[4]
  • c. 1165 – Of arms, “to lay low”, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.[4]
  • 1283 – “To enlarge”, in Beaumanoir.[4]
  • 1404 – Estendue.[5]
  • 1600 – Étendre sur le carreau.[5]
  • 1687 – Étendoir.[5]
  • 1827 – “To dilute”, in Stendhal.[4]
  • 1929 – Se faire étendre à un examen.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To stretch out (a limb): étendre les bras, les jambes.[9][1]
  2. To spread out, lay out: étendre une nappe, étendre du linge: to hang out the washing.[9][1]
  3. To lay (someone) down, (familiar) to knock down; to fail (in an exam).[9][5]
  4. To extend, enlarge: étendre son influence.[1][10]
  5. To spread (butter, paint); to dilute: étendre du vin d'eau.[1][4]
  6. (reflexive) To lie down; to stretch, extend: la plaine s'étend jusqu'à la mer, s'étendre sur un sujet: to dwell on a subject.[1][9]

Word family

  • étendoir
  • étendu
  • étendue
  • tendre
  • étendage
  • étendu
  • étendue
  • étendoir
  • étendage

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ 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 i j k 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b 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, 325b
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)