aligner

Forms

aligner^[1] Old French alignier, aliner, alinier.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French a- + ligne + -er.^{[2][5][6][7][8][9]} Wiktionary traces it through Middle French aligner to Old French alignier, from a- and lignier, from Latin lineō (“to make straight”), from līnea (“line”).^[1] Cognate with Old Occitan alinhar and Spanish aliñar.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The participle alignié is found in the Couronnement de Louis (1130–1160) for a person who stands straight and well-proportioned.^[2] In Wace's Brut (1155) a ditch and a wall are alignié, set on one line and level.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

In Villehardouin (1202) aliner is to draw up ships in order, and in 1427 the verb is used for taking measurements by tracing lines.^[2][5] About 1275 Étienne de Fougères used alinier for making one's dress neat; this figurative use was revived in the 18th century for writing phrases one after another (1752), with a note of affectation, as in aligner ses phrases.^[2][10][3] In hunting it meant, of a wolf, to cover the female (Gaston Phébus, 1387–1391), the sense in which English align is first recorded.^[2][3][11]

In the 19th century s'aligner took the familiar sense “to line up for a duel” (1845), and in politics it came to mean conforming to a power's demands (1948).^[10]

Timeline

• 1130–1160 – The participle alignié appears in the Couronnement de Louis.^[2]
• 1155 – Wace uses alignier for setting things on one line.^[2][7]
• 1202 – Villehardouin uses aliner of ships.^[2][3]
• 1387–1391 – Gaston Phébus uses it of a wolf covering a she-wolf.^[2]
• 1427 – First used for tracing lines to measure.^[2]
• 1752 – The Trévoux dictionary notes aligner des phrases.^[2]
• 1845 – S'aligner “to line up for a duel” is recorded.^[10]
• 1948 – The political sense of s'aligner appears.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To arrange in a straight line.^[6][12]
2. (transitive) To set down or say one after another: aligner des chiffres, aligner des arguments.^[12][6][7]
3. (transitive) Aligner sur: to bring into line with; to fix one currency's rate against another, or to model a policy on another.^[6][12]
4. (transitive, familiar) Les aligner: to pay up.^[6][7]
5. (pronominal) S'aligner: to line up; figuratively, to conform to a policy.^[12][6]

Word family

• alignement
• désaligner

Related words

• ligne
• lignée
• souligner
• Latin līnea
• English align

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 350b
10. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)