acheter

Pronunciation

• IPA: /aʃ.te/^[1]
• IPA: /a.ʃə.te/^[1]

Forms

acheter^[1] Old French acheder (10th century), achater and acheter (12th century); Anglo-Norman and Picard acater.^[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French achater, inherited from Vulgar Latin *accaptō (“to take to oneself; to acquire”), formed from ad- and captō (“to try to seize”) (see capter).^{[2][6][3][7][1]} Some take “*accaptāre” as a remaking of classical Latin acceptō (“to receive”) after “captāre”; others as a compound of “captāre” itself.^[8][2][9] It is a doublet of accepter.^[1]

Classical Latin used emō (“to buy”), replaced after the 2nd century by comparō (“to procure”), whence Italian comprare and Spanish comprar, “*accaptāre” is behind southern Italian “accattari” and Old Occitan acaptar.^[8][2][9] Bloch and Wartburg think Italy may owe the word to northern Gaul, or the reverse.^[8] Littré derived it instead from “ad” and “caput” “head”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the 10th century as acheder in the Sermon on Jonah.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

The first idea, “to take, obtain”, was overlaid in the middle of the 12th century by that of an exchange for money.^[2] Figuratively, as in acheter trop cher sa tranquillité, it has been used since 1160; with a person as object it meant “to win over” at the end of the 12th century, and later “to bribe”.^[2][3] Buying something for another, acheter un vélo à son fils, seems recent.^[2] Old French also had comperer, from comparāre, in the sense “to pay dearly for”.^[8] Derivatives include achat (1178, acat), acheteur and racheter (12th century).^[8]

Timeline

• 10th century – Acheder in the Sermon on Jonah.^[3]
• 12th century – The forms achater and acheter, racheter.^[2][8]
• Mid-12th century – “To exchange for money”.^[2]
• 1160 – Figurative use.^[2]
• 1178 – Acat, later achat.^[8]
• Late 12th century – “To win over (a person)”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To buy, purchase: acheter une maison, acheter à crédit.^[10][1]
2. To buy for someone: acheter un jouet à son fils.^[10]
3. To bribe, buy the complicity of: acheter un témoin.^[3]
4. To obtain at a cost: acheter cher sa liberté.^[2]

Word family

• achat
• acheteur
• racheter

Related words

• accepter
• capter
• Latin captō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 66a
8. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert