abréger

Forms

abréger^[1] Old French abregier, abrejer, abrigier.^[2][3] Old French and 16th-century French also had abrevier, a Frenchified form of the Latin word.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French abregier, inherited from Late Latin abbreviō (“to shorten”), from brevis (“short”) (bref).^{[6][4][7][8][9]} In Late Latin, especially Christian Latin, the verb meant first “to become shorter”, of time, and then “to make shorter”.^[6][8] The legal sense “to draw up (a text)” arose in French: Medieval Latin did not have it.^[6] Beside it Old French had abrevier, a Frenchified form of the Latin;^[4] abrévier is now an obsolete doublet.^[1]

Cognate with Italian abbreviare, Spanish abreviar, Old Occitan abreujar and Catalan abreujar.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1160 as a reflexive verb, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's chronicle of the dukes of Normandy, where the speaker's days grow short (s'abrejent mi jor).^[6][10]

Semantic evolution

The transitive sense “to make shorter” follows about 1160 in Wace, of verses, and has stayed stable since.^[6][8] In law, from 1268, it meant drawing up a text by ordering and condensing earlier material, and then (1315) recording accounts in writing; because the Middle Ages prized brevity as a virtue of style, abréger came to mean simply “to write, draw up”.^[6][8] The feudal sense “to reduce the services owed by a fief” (1283, Beaumanoir) disappeared with feudalism.^[8][6] The absolute use “to be brief” is as old as the transitive one.^[6] In the 19th century grammar and philology gave it the sense “to make (a syllable) short”.^[8][10]

Of its derivatives only abrégé (1305) has been much used, with en abrégé (1680).^[8] English abridge (about 1300) comes from the Old French verb, while abbreviate is the same word taken directly from Latin.^[3]

Timeline

• 1160 – S'abrejent mi jor in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^[6]
• c. 1160 – Wace uses it transitively, of verses.^[6]
• 1268 – Brunetto Latini uses it of Justinian drawing up the laws.^[6]
• 1283 – Beaumanoir uses it of reducing a fief.^[6][8]
• c. 1300 – English borrows it as abridge.^[3]
• 1305 – The noun abrégé appears.^[8]
• 1315 – It means recording accounts in writing.^[6]
• 1680 – En abrégé is recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To shorten the duration of: abréger un séjour, abréger les souffrances.^[11][6]
2. To shorten (a speech, story or text), to abridge.^[11][5] Used absolutely, to be brief: Abrégeons !.^[11][5][6]
3. To abbreviate (a word) by leaving out some of its letters.^[11]
4. To make seem shorter: la musique abrège le voyage.^[5][10]
5. (prosody) To make (a syllable) short.^[10][8]
6. (feudal law, historical) To reduce the services owed by (a fief).^[8][6]

Word family

• abrégé
• abrègement

Related words

• bref
• abréviation
• abrévier
• Latin brevis
• English abridge

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ 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
9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 25b
10. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
11. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert