évasif

Forms

évasif (feminine évasive, masculine plural évasifs, feminine plural évasives)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French évasion + -if, on the stem of the noun.^[2][1][3] The noun, first meaning the act of escaping, and before 1328 also “loophole, evasion”, is from Late Latin ēvāsiō (“escape, deliverance”), from ēvādō (“to escape”).^[2][4] The DHLF derives the adjective from that figurative sense “loophole”.^[5]

Bloch and Wartburg date the adjective only from 1787 and take it from the adverb évasivement, whose first record is from before 1787.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1547 in G. Budé's Institution du Prince, of words or means that serve to elude a difficulty.^[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The adjective first qualified words and manners that let one avoid a difficulty or a responsibility by dodging the question, such as an evasive answer;^[3][7] Littré defines it simply as “serving to elude”.^[3][7] Applied to the person who speaks in this way, as in rester évasif, it is a 20th-century use according to GLLF.^[3][2] The DHLF notes that the word is now cut off in meaning from évader and évasion but remains very much alive.^[5]

Timeline

• 1547 – Budé uses it in the Institution du Prince.^[2][3]
• Before 1787 – The adverb évasivement is first recorded.^[2][5]
• 20th century – It is applied to a person who avoids committing himself.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of words, gestures or a look: evasive, avoiding a difficulty by staying vague: une réponse évasive.^[8][3][2]
2. Of a person: avoiding a clear answer, noncommittal: rester évasif.^[3][8][1]

Related words

• évasion
• évader
• évasivement

References

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