accéder

Forms

accéder^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin accēdō (“to approach”),^{[2][3][4][1][5]} formed from ad (“to”) and cēdō (“to go”).^[6] The Latin verb was used of stars and planets drawing near, of illnesses coming on, and figuratively of attaining honours and of assenting to an opinion, uses that the French verb took up.^[2] It belongs to the same family as accès and accession.^[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first, isolated record (1270, in an astronomical treatise) uses it without an object for planets “approaching” in their course.^[2] Rey gives the first sense as “to draw near”.^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

In 1470 accéder à meant “to draw near to (someone)”, in the image of the righteous drawing near to God, and in 1488 “to reach, get into (a place)”.^[2][7] This sense was poorly recorded in 19th-century dictionaries; the Académie admitted it only in 1878, and the Dictionnaire général was the first to put it first.^[2]

In international law, from Voltaire (1731), accéder à meant “to join a treaty already made by others”; in civil law (1771) “to consent to a deed”, and in general use from 1790 (Marat) “to consent to something”, as in accéder à une demande.^[2][7][3] In modern French the sense “to reach, attain” extends to positions, as in accéder au trône and accéder à la propriété “to become a home owner”.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 1270 – First, isolated record, of planets “approaching”.^[2]
• 1470 – Accéder à “to draw near to”.^[2]
• 1488 – Used for reaching a place.^[2][7]
• 1731 – Voltaire uses it for joining a treaty.^[2][3]
• 1771 – The legal sense “to consent to a deed” in the Dictionnaire de Trévoux.^[2]
• 1790 – Marat uses it for “to consent to” in general.^[2][7]
• 1878 – The Académie records the sense “to reach”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (with à) To reach or get into a place, to have access to it: on accède à la cave par un escalier, “the cellar is reached by a staircase”.^[8][10][9]
2. (figurative) To attain a position or condition: accéder au trône, accéder à la propriété “to become a home owner”.^[8][9]
3. To grant, to consent to a request or wish: accéder à sa demande, “to grant his request”.^[8][6][2]
4. (dated) To join an agreement already made by others: accéder à un traité.^[8][9][6]
5. To access information.^[1]

Word family

• accédant

Related words

• accès
• accession
• accessible
• céder
• Latin accēdō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 69a
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)