agiter

Pronunciation

• IPA: /a.ʒi.te/^[1]

Forms

agiter^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin agitō (“to drive, toss about; to stir up; to discuss”),^[2][3][4][5] a frequentative and intensive of agō (“to drive, set in motion; to act”), the source of agir.^[3][6][7] Its compound cōgitō meant “to turn thoughts over” (compare cogiter).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in a 13th-century alchemical poem, of the elements: Sont transmuez et agitez De leur propre en autre nature.^[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

Figuratively it meant “to trouble, excite (someone)” from 1550, a sense common in the 17th century;^[3][2] Montaigne writes that our souls se treuvent souvent agitées de diverses passions (1580).^[3][2] Agiter une question “to debate it” is recorded in 1561.^[2][8] The pronominal s'agiter (mid-17th century) is said of people bustling about.^[3]

Under the Revolution, probably after agitateur and agitation, it took the sense “to stir up to revolt” (1797), and the Académie recorded agiter le peuple in 1798.^[3][2][8] Agitation is a 14th-century borrowing from Latin,^[4][3] and agitateur (1651) follows English agitator (1647).^[4] In slang les agiter “to run off” dates from 1917, and the noun un agité was a mental patient in Baudelaire (1867).^[3]

Timeline

• 13th century – In an alchemical poem.^[2]
• 1355 – Agitation.^[3]
• 1550 – “To trouble, excite”.^[3]
• 1561 – Agiter une question.^[2]
• 1651 – Agitateur, after English.^[4]
• Mid-17th century – S'agiter.^[3]
• 1797 – “To stir up to revolt”.^[2]
• 1917 – Slang les agiter.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To Shake, wave, stir: agiter les bras, agiter avant utilisation, shake before use.^[9][1]
2. (figurative) To brandish (a threat): agiter le spectre de.^[9][10]
3. To trouble, agitate, excite (someone).^[9][1]
4. To stir up (a people) to revolt.^[2][10]
5. (literary) To debate, discuss (a question).^[2][3]
6. S'agiter: to fidget, bustle about.^[3]

Word family

• agité

Related words

• agitation
• agitateur
• agir

References

1. ^ a b c d 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 l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 262b
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse