Etymologically
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achever

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /aʃ.ve/[1]

Forms

achever[1]

Etymology

It is formed from the Old French phrase a chief (“to the end”), in which the word for “head” (see chef) had the extended sense “end, extremity”.[2][3][4][5][6] The GLLF and Wiktionary instead derive it from Vulgar Latin *accapō (“to bring to a head”), from Latin caput (“head”), and compare Old Occitan acabar and Spanish acabar.[7][1] Old French phrases built on it meant “to come to an end” and “to manage”;[3][2] the verbs eschever and chever did not survive.[3] The Old French verb is the source of English achieve.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) says of the coming battle Seinz hume mort ne poet estre achevee, “it cannot be brought to an end without men dying”.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The pronominal s'achever “to come to an end” is in Benoît de Sainte-Maure (after 1170), and the intransitive la vie d'ome tost achieve in a 12th-century life of Saint Catherine.[2] Amyot uses it alone for “to finish speaking” (1559).[2] The special sense “to give the death blow to, kill” appears in Rabelais (1534), and Rabelais also has pour m'achever de peindre, “to crown my misfortune”.[2][3] In classical French it meant “to ruin someone” (1614), a sense related to the modern “to wear out completely”.[3][2]

The participle achevé became an adjective in the 16th century, “accomplished, perfect”; in classical French it also meant “complete” in a bad sense, as in un sot achevé.[3][2] achèvement dates from after 1273.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – In the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • After 1170 – S'achever.[2]
  • After 1273 – Achèvement.[3]
  • 1534 – “To finish off, kill”, in Rabelais.[2]
  • 1559 – “To finish speaking”, in Amyot.[2]
  • 1614 – “To ruin” (Hulsius).[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To Finish, complete: achever un travail, achever ses jours, achever de (and infinitive), to finish doing.[5][1]
  2. (absolute) To finish speaking: Laissez-le achever.[5][2]
  3. To finish off, to kill (someone already wounded).[1][2]
  4. (figurative) To wear out completely, to be the last straw for.[3]
  5. S'achever: to come to an end.[1][5]

Word family

  • achevé
  • achèvement
  • inachevé
  • parachever

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 339a
  7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette