apparoir

Forms

apparoir (defective)^[1] Old French apareir (1080) and aparoir; the form apparoir is recorded from the 14th century.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French aparoir, inherited from Latin appāreō (“to appear, be visible, be evident”).^{[1][3][4][5][6]} The Latin verb is formed from ad- and pāreō (“to appear”).^[7]

Littré explains the present third person singular as the regular outcome of the Latin present forms stressed on the stem, while the infinitive continues the Latin infinitive stressed on its ending.^[7][1]

Cognate with Italian apparere, Catalan aparer, Occitan aparer and Romanian apărea.^[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Chanson de Roland (1080), where the dawn is said to appear: apert la claire aube.^[3][7][2]

Semantic evolution

In Old and Middle French apparoir was the ordinary verb for “to appear”; it was still usual in the 16th century and already old in the 17th, when apparaître had taken its place.^[4][2] The old verb survives indirectly in apparent.^[2]

From the 12th century it was specialised in law, above all in the impersonal formula il appert que “it is evident that” (1180, Chrétien de Troyes).^[3][2] Modern usage keeps only the infinitive, chiefly in faire apparoir, and the third person singular of the present.^[5][9] Writers of the 19th century occasionally revived the sense “to appear” of a concrete thing, a use the TLFi explains as taken from the legal one.^[9]

Timeline

• 1080 – First record, as apareir, in the Chanson de Roland.^[3][2]
• 1180 – Il appert que is used by Chrétien de Troyes.^[3][2]
• 14th century – The form apparoir appears.^[2]
• 16th century – Apparaître displaces it in general use.^[2][4]
• 17th century – The verb is already felt as old.^[4]
• 1833 – Edgar Quinet uses appert of the rising sun.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. (law) To be evident or established, chiefly in the impersonal il appert que “it is clear that”: Il appert du rapport que le délai a été dépassé.^[5][9][7]
2. (law) Faire apparoir de: to show the evidence of, to prove: faire apparoir de son bon droit.^[5][7][9]
3. (literary, rare) To appear, to become visible.^[9][1]

Related words

• apparaître
• apparent
• Latin appāreō

Usage notes

The verb is defective: only the infinitive and the third person singular of the present indicative (il appert) are in use.^[5][9][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 24b
7. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d e f g 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