éveiller

Forms

éveiller^[1] Old French esveiller, esveillier;^[1][2] the spelling éveiller dates from the 17th century.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French esveiller, inherited from Vulgar Latin *exvigilō, a remodelling with the prefix ex- of Latin ēvigilō (“to wake up; to stay awake, keep watch”).^[4][2][5][6] Wiktionary gives the intermediate form *exviglō.^[1] The Latin verb is from vigilō (“to be awake, watch”), from vigil (“wakeful, alert”), itself related to vigeō (“to be lively”).^[2]

Bloch and Wartburg explain its spread by a clash in Latin: the participle experrēctus (“awakened”) of expergīscor (“to wake up”) was confused with expertus, the participle of experior (“to try”), which produced an Old French and Old Occitan verb esperir (“to wake”);^[5] the new verb took over its place, leaving traces of the older type only in some southern dialects.^[5]

Cognate with Italian svegliare and Old Occitan esvelhar.^[7][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1100 in the Chanson de Roland, used reflexively for waking from sleep: Charles se dort, qu'il ne s'esveille mie “Charles sleeps and does not wake”.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

Since the 12th century it has also had figurative uses: reflexively, “to come out of indifference or torpor” (1160–1170, Wace), a use now dated.^[4][2] Other figurative senses survived and developed the idea of calling up a feeling or idea (1762), as in éveiller la curiosité or éveiller un écho, and of bringing out what was latent, as in éveiller l'intelligence.^[2][3] S'éveiller à “to feel for the first time” dates from the early 19th century.^[2]

The transitive verb in its physical sense has become literary; everyday French uses réveiller instead, though s'éveiller remains common.^[2][5] The participle éveillé means lively, alert (an esprit éveillé, 15th century).^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – S'esveiller in the Chanson de Roland.^[4]
• 1160–1170 – Wace uses s'esveiller for rousing oneself from torpor.^[4]
• c. 1175 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it transitively.^[3]
• 13th century – The derivative réveiller appears.^[5]
• 1762 – Rousseau uses it for calling up a feeling.^[3][2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (literary) To wake, awaken from sleep.^[8][4]
2. To bring out, develop what was latent: éveiller le goût de la lecture.^[8][2]
3. To arouse, call up a feeling or idea: éveiller la méfiance, éveiller l'attention.^[8][3]
4. S'éveiller: to wake up; to come alive, to begin to show itself, s'éveiller à l'amour, to discover love.^[8][2]

Word family

• réveiller
• éveil

Related words

• veiller
• vigilant
• vigile
• Latin vigil

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 j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 336a
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert