Etymologically
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appel

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a.pɛl/[1]

Forms

appel m (plural appels)[1] Old French apel; the old nominative singular and oblique plural apeaus became appeau.[2][3]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from French appeler.[4][5][3][1] “Appeler” (1080) is borrowed from Latin appellō (“to address, call upon; to name”), a prefixed form of a verb “*pellāre”, a variant of pellō (“to push”), which would have meant “to move towards”; compare interpeller.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

At the end of the 11th century apel, apiau meant recourse, appeal (Lois de Guillaume); the usual sense “act of calling” appears about 1172 in Chrétien de Troyes, after a lost sense “welcome”.[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

In law it has meant appeal to a higher court since 1382, whence cour d'appel, en appel and sans appel, said of an irrevocable decision.[2] As a military signal to assemble it is of the 13th century; at the beginning of the 19th century it took the sense of a roll-call of troops, and in 1835 the calling up of an age group for military service (appel du contingent), whence les appelés.[2] A roll-call in general is from 1690, and faire appel à comes from faire un appel “to ask for help” (1835).[2] An appel was a bird whistle in 1270, a sense later taken by appeau.[2] Telephones gave appel téléphonique.[5]

Timeline

  • late 11th century – Apel, recourse.[2]
  • c. 1172 – The act of calling, Chrétien de Troyes.[4]
  • 13th century – A military signal.[2]
  • 1270 – A bird whistle.[2]
  • 1382 – A legal appeal.[2]
  • 1690 – A roll-call.[2]
  • 1835 – Faire appel, the call-up.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A call, a cry or signal to make someone come: un appel au secours, appel de phares.[5][1]
  2. A telephone call: passer un appel.[5][1]
  3. An appeal, a request: faire appel à qqn, appel aux dons, appel d'offres.[2][1]
  4. A roll-call: faire l'appel, manquer à l'appel.[2][1]
  5. (law) An appeal: faire appel, cour d'appel, sans appel, final.[2][1]
  6. (military) A call-up: l'appel du contingent.[2]
  7. Appel d'air: a draught, an inflow of air.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse