Etymologically
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appartenir

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a.paʁ.tə.niʁ/[1]

Forms

appartenir[1] Old French apartenir.[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin appertineō (“to adjoin, belong to”), from pertineō (“to extend; to relate to, concern”) (see pertinent), itself related to teneō (“to hold”) (see tenir).[2][3][4][1][5] The vowel ⟨a⟩ is probably due to pars (“part”) (see part): Rey and Bloch and Wartburg assume a popular Latin “*appartinēre”, which Italian appartenere also points to, while Old Occitan apertener keeps a form closer to Latin.[2][6][7] Rey calls the verb a borrowing, while Bloch and Wartburg's popular form implies that it was inherited.[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1155 it meant to be part of something; about 1170 it took the modern legal sense “to be the property of”, the converse of posséder.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

About 1200 it meant to be a characteristic of someone or something, whence the impersonal il appartient à qqn de “it is someone's role or duty” (1360) and, in the 17th century, “someone's privilege”.[2] Of people, it meant to be related to someone (12th century) and to be in someone's service (1538).[2] Appartenir à un homme is said of a woman who gives herself (1898), and s'appartenir is to be one's own master (1829).[2] Appartenance was first used in the plural (about 1170) for the dependencies of a property.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1155 – To be part of.[2]
  • c. 1170 – To be the property of.[2]
  • c. 1170 – Appartenances.[2]
  • c. 1200 – To be characteristic of.[2]
  • 1360 – Il appartient à.[2]
  • 1538 – To be in someone's service.[2]
  • 1829 – S'appartenir.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To belong to, be the property of: ce livre m'appartient.[1][3]
  2. To belong to, be a member or part of: appartenir à un parti.[2][1]
  3. To be characteristic of, be proper to.[2]
  4. Il appartient à qqn de: it is someone's role or duty to.[2]
  5. S'appartenir: to be one's own master.[2]
  6. (literary) Of a woman, to give herself (to a man).[2][4]

Word family

  • appartenance
  • appartenant

Usage notes

The saying l'avenir appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt means “the early bird catches the worm”.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c 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. 25, 34a
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette