accroître

Forms

accroître^[1] Old French acreistre, then acroistre (before 1220) and Middle French accroistre (15th century).^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French acreistre, inherited from Latin accrēscō, formed from ad- and crēscō (“to grow”).^[3][2][4][5] The Latin verb was only intransitive in Classical and Late Latin and became transitive in Medieval Latin, but was never reflexive.^[3][2] The Old French form was remade after croître into acroistre.^[2]

Cognate with Italian accrescere, Spanish acrecer and Old Occitan acreisser.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the mid-12th century in Li Quatre Livre des Reis, translating the Latin amplificet: Deu acreissed le num Salemun “may God make the name of Solomon great”, in the sense “to magnify, give lustre to”.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

From “to magnify” the verb passed to “to increase” an abstract thing (1180, Marie de France) and a possession (before 1220, Henri de Valenciennes), which is still its main sense.^[3][2] An intransitive use, “to grow in number and power”, appears in the 13th century;^[3] Rey calls it obsolete, though the Académie still gave son revenu accroît in 1932.^[2][3] Furetière recorded the legal sense in 1690, of a share that passes to an associate on another's death or absence, and the reflexive s'accroître is found in Commynes in 1498.^[3]

Classical French could also say accroître quelqu'un, to give a person more power or honour.^[7][6]

Timeline

• c. 1150 – Acreistre “to magnify” appears in Li Quatre Livre des Reis.^[3][2]
• 1180 – Marie de France uses it for “to increase”.^[3]
• before 1220 – The form acroistre and the sense “to enlarge a possession” appear in Henri de Valenciennes.^[3][2]
• 13th century – It is used intransitively for “to grow in number”.^[3][2]
• 15th century – The spelling accroistre appears.^[2]
• 1498 – The reflexive s'accroistre is found in Commynes.^[3]
• 1690 – Furetière records the legal sense.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To make larger or more important; to increase: accroître sa fortune, accroître la production.^[8][6][3]
2. (reflexive) s'accroître: to grow, to increase: La ville s'est accrue de dix mille habitants.^[8][1]
3. (law) Of a share, to fall to the benefit of someone: la part des absents accroît aux présents.^[8][6]
4. (intransitive, dated) To become larger.^[6][2]

Word family

• accroissable
• accroissement
• accru

Related words

• accrétion
• croître
• Latin accrēscō

Usage notes

Accroître is conjugated like croître, but its past participle accru has no circumflex.^[9][8]

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1327b
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert