Etymologically
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agiter

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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
  • 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