adhérer

Forms

adhérer^[1] Old French ahérer (1216) beside adhérer (1274).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin adhaereō (“to cling to, stick to”), from ad- and haereō (“to be fixed, stick”).^[2][3][4][5] The Latin verb, used in the literal sense since Plautus, had a figurative sense “to side with someone” from the 1st century, which Christian Latin developed, as in the Vulgate, of those who cleave to the Lord.^[2] The stem of the simple verb is also seen in cohérence and hésiter.^[3][6]

The borrowing was influenced by Old French aerdre, aherdre “to seize, to cling to”, the inherited verb, still alive in the 16th century.^[3][7][1] Rey takes the 1216 form ahérer as an offshoot of that verb and holds that the older verb shaped the figurative sense “to be of someone's opinion or party”, while the TLFi counts the same record as the first of the borrowing.^[3][2] The origin of the Old French verb is debated: Littré derives it from the Latin verb with a change of conjugation, while Bloch and Wartburg and Rey suggest a supposed Vulgar Latin *aderigō (“to rise against”), from ērigō (“to raise”).^[6][1][7][3] Old Occitan had aderdre beside adherir, and Picard still has aerde.^[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, ahérer in a French chronicle of 1216, is figurative: those who had “joined” Louis, “taken his side”.^[2] The literal sense “to stick closely to something” appears in 1274, in the Chroniques de Saint-Denis.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The verb was first reflexive, s'adhérer, before it took its present construction with à;^[3][7] adhérer à “to share the same opinion” dates from 1377.^[3][7] A 1368 royal ordinance uses it for agreeing with appeals, and in 1435 a text speaks of those who wish to join a confraternity, the start of the sense “to become a member”.^[2] In the 16th and 17th centuries it was used more widely for moral or emotional attachment, and even of a man's union with a woman.^[3]

In the 16th century Paré used it in anatomy, of a muscle bound to the skin.^[6] Its derivatives were borrowed from Latin around the same time: adhérence in the 14th century, adhérent in 1331 and adhésion in 1372, in Oresme.^[7][3]

Timeline

• 1216 – Ahérer “to side with someone” in a French chronicle.^[2]
• 1274 – The literal sense “to stick to” in the Chroniques de Saint-Denis.^[2]
• 1368 – “To agree with something”, in a royal ordinance.^[2]
• 1377 – Adhérer à “to be of the same opinion”.^[3][7]
• 1435 – “To join” a confraternity.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (of things) To adhere, to stick firmly to a surface: la peinture adhère mal au plastique.^[9][8]
2. To agree with, to support an opinion or an idea: elle adhère entièrement à ce projet.^[9][8]
3. To join an association or party, to become a member.^[9][1]
4. (law, dated) To confirm or approve an earlier act by a later one.^[6]

Related words

• adhérence
• adhérent
• adhésif
• adhésion
• Latin adhaereō

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 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 j k 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 139b
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert