apercevoir

Pronunciation

• IPA: /a.pɛʁ.sə.vwaʁ/^[1]

Forms

apercevoir^[1] Old French forms include apparzoivre and aperzoyvre (12th century, Saint Bernard).^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from French a- + percevoir, already in Old French apercevoir (“to become aware of”).^{[3][4][2][1][5]} Percevoir is a remaking of Old French “perçoivre”, from Latin percipiō (“to seize by the senses, understand”), from per- and capiō (“to take”).^[6]

Cognate with Old Occitan apercebre, Spanish apercibir and Portuguese aperceber.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found, reflexive, in the Chanson de Roland (1080): ainz que Rolanz se seit aperceüt, “before Roland had noticed”; the transitive use “to catch sight of” is of the mid-12th century.^[3][7][2]

Semantic evolution

Saint Bernard's sermons (12th century) use it for discerning something by the mind: trois manieres de sainteit poons apparzoivre.^[2] In the 13th and 14th centuries apercevoir was also used for collecting taxes, a sense later taken by percevoir.^[6] The verb gave Leibniz's aperception (17th century) and the noun aperçu “glimpse, outline” (1760).^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – S'apercevoir, Chanson de Roland.^[3][2]
• Mid-12th century – Transitive “to see”.^[3][7]
• 17th century – Aperception, Leibniz.^[6]
• 1760 – Aperçu.^[6]
• 1782 – Inaperçu.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To glimpse, catch sight of, make out: on apercevait le clocher au loin.^[7][1]
2. To see briefly, notice: je l'ai aperçu dans la rue.^[7][4]
3. To perceive, become aware of (a truth, a difficulty).^[7][2]
4. S'apercevoir de, s'apercevoir que: to realize, notice: il s'aperçut de son erreur.^[1][2]

Word family

• aperçu
• inaperçu
• aperception

Related words

• aperceptif
• percevoir
• entrevoir

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 217b
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert