adjoindre

Forms

adjoindre^[1] Old French ajoindre, still current in the 16th century; the spelling with ⟨d⟩ dates from the 14th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French ajoindre, inherited from Latin adiungō (“to join to, add”), respelled with ⟨d⟩ after the written Latin form from the 14th century.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is formed from ad- (“to”) and iungō (“to join”), the source of joindre.^[3][5]

Cognate with Italian aggiungere; in the Gallo-Romance dialects the verb often means “to reach”, like Romanian ajunge.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in the Old French Dialogues of Gregory (second half of the 12th century), has ajoindre meaning “to add”; at the end of the century it meant “to unite”, and about 1200 the reflexive s'ajoindre “to join oneself (to something)”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old and Middle French ajoindre meant “to add” and “to unite”, and was used intransitively for “to be next to” (about 1300).^[3] Until the 17th century its sense differed little from that of joindre.^[4] The relatinised form came to be used for putting people together with others, whence s'adjoindre à quelqu'un (1538); Oresme used it for joining one thing to another.^[3]

The past participle adjoint was used as a noun for an ally or associate (1337) and later took specialised senses in law (1549), local administration (the deputy mayor, 1795) and the army (1825).^[3][2] In modern French the verb mainly means to assign someone as a helper, and in the 19th century it took up again the old sense of adding one thing to another.^[6]

Timeline

• 8th century – A Romance form adjungeat “he joins” is found.^[3][7]
• 1150–1200 – Ajoindre “to add” appears in the Dialogues of Gregory.^[2]
• c. 1200 – Reflexive s'ajoindre “to join (something)”.^[2]
• c. 1300 – Intransitive ajoindre à “to be adjacent to”.^[3]
• 1337 – The noun adjoinct shows the relatinised spelling.^[2][3]
• 1538 – S'adjoindre à quelqu'un “to join someone”.^[3]
• 16th century – The form ajoindre is still in common use.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To give someone as an assistant or associate to another person: on lui a adjoint deux secrétaires.^[6][2][8]
2. (reflexive) S'adjoindre quelqu'un: to take someone on as a collaborator.^[6][5]
3. (transitive) To add or attach one thing to another.^[6][8]

Word family

• adjoint

Related words

• adjonction
• joindre
• Latin adiungō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse