Etymologically
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acheter

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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

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