évincer

Forms

évincer^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, dated 1412, borrowed from Latin ēvincō (“to conquer completely”).^[2][3][4] In Roman law, from Ulpian on, the Latin verb also meant “to dispossess by a court judgment”, and this is the sense French took first.^[2][3][5] It is a compound of ē- (a form of ex-, here intensive) and vincō (“to conquer”), the source of vaincre.^[3][6][5] Bloch and Wartburg add that classical Latin used it for “to conquer” and “to convince”.^[4]

The noun éviction is an older borrowing (1283) of the legal term Late Latin ēvictiō (“recovery of a thing by judgment”), formed on the supine of the same verb.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1412, in the Journal of the Paris court clerk Nicolas de Baye, as a legal term: to dispossess someone of a property by judgment.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Rabelais extended it in 1550 to “drive out, oust”, in the Epistre du Lymosin;^[2][3] the GLLF and the Petit Robert date this use to 1546.^[5][7] The extended sense was taken up again in 1823, and the Académie recorded it in 1835,^[3][7][5] the date Bloch and Wartburg give for the figurative sense.^[4] It came to mean pushing a rival aside, usually by intrigue, from a post or an advantageous position.^[2][7]

A reflexive use, s'évincer “to withdraw, exclude oneself” (1840), has gone out of use;^[3] Littré records it in the reciprocal sense “to oust one another”.^[8] In slang, s'évincer meant “to run away” (1899).^[9] The derived noun évincement (1875) is rarer than éviction.^[3]

Timeline

• 1283 – The related noun éviction is borrowed from Late Latin.^[3]
• 1412 – First record, as a legal term, in the Journal of Nicolas de Baye.^[2]
• 1550 – Rabelais uses it in the extended sense “to drive out”.^[2][3]
• 1823 – The extended sense is taken up again.^[3][7]
• 1835 – The Académie records the figurative sense.^[5][4]
• 1840 – A reflexive use “to withdraw” appears.^[3]
• 1875 – The derivative évincement is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (law) To dispossess someone legally of a property they hold.^[2][7][5]
2. To oust or push someone aside, often by intrigue, from a post, a place or an advantage: la direction a évincé son adjoint.^[2][7][5]
3. To eliminate or exclude, as from a list or a competition: il a été évincé de la course.^[7][1]

Word family

• évincement

Related words

• vaincre
• éviction
• Latin ēvincō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF