abattre
Pronunciation
- IPA: /a.batʁ/[1]
Forms
abattre[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Old French abatre, inherited from Vulgar Latin *abbattuō, later *abbattō, a compound of ad- marking an action carried to its end and battuō (“to beat”) (see battre).[2][3][4][5] The verb is already found in the Reichenau glosses of the 8th century.[4][6] It replaced classical afflīgō (“to strike down”), which survived only in Old French aflire and in the figurative sense of affliger.[3][2]
Cognate with Italian abbattere, Spanish abatir, Portuguese abater, Catalan abatre, Occitan abatre and Romanian abate.[1][7]
Earliest recorded meaning
In the Chanson de Roland (1080) it means to strike down: a gate of Saragossa is knocked down and a knight is struck dead.[2][8]
Semantic evolution
First said of buildings, then (13th century) of trees and fruit, in the sense “to knock down to gather” (1270).[2] Of a living being, “to make fall” has also meant “to wound or kill” since the 11th century; an argot glossary of 1821 has it for killing a person.[2][6] Figurative uses are old: “to humble (pride)” about 1200, “to reduce (a value)” in the 12th century, and abattre de la besogne “to get through a great deal of work” in 1718.[2]
The past participle abattu is said of a person who is weak or downcast, and the noun abattement has moved from a concrete sense (about 1190) and a tax reduction (1259) to depression of spirits.[2] In 1800 Cousin Jacques's dictionary of neologisms called abattre the chief science of revolutions.[9]
Timeline
- 8th century – Abattas in the Reichenau glosses.[4]
- c. 1080 – Abatre in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
- c. 1200 – “To humble (pride)”.[2]
- 1265 – The derivative abattage.[3]
- 1718 – Abattre de la besogne.[2]
- 1806 – The derivative abattoir.[3][2]
- 1821 – “To kill (a person)”, in argot.[6]
Meanings
Verb
- To knock down, bring down what stands upright: abattre un arbre, abattre un mur (to demolish).[10][11]
- To kill (an animal), especially to slaughter it for meat; to shoot down: abattre un avion.[10][1]
- To kill (a person) with a firearm: un homme à abattre.[10]
- To weaken, exhaust; to dishearten.[10][12]
- Abattre ses cartes, son jeu: to lay down one's cards, (figurative) to reveal one's intentions.[10][6]
- Abattre de la besogne: to get through a lot of work.[2][10]
- S'abattre: to fall heavily, s'abattre sur, to swoop down on.[1][10]
Word family
- abat-jour
- abattis
- abattoir
- abattu
- abat
- abattage
- abattement
- rabattre
- rabat-joie
Related words
- battre
- affliger
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 16b
- ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
- ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
- ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
- ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)