appendre

Forms

appendre^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French apendre, inherited from Latin appendō (“to hang up”), remodelled after pendre.^[2][3][4] The Latin verb is a compound of pendō.^[2] Wiktionary calls the modern word a borrowing from Latin.^[1] Littré separates the Old French verb meaning “to belong”, which he derives from appendeō, from the verb meaning “to hang up”, which comes from the Latin verb with short ⟨e⟩, ⟨appendĕre⟩.^[5]

Cognate with Italian appendere and Old Occitan apendre.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (1080) Old French apendre means “to depend on, to belong to”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the verb was common, mostly in abstract senses: “to belong to, to suit” (1080), “to apply to” (1271), and concretely “to touch, to lean against” (about 1200, in Walloon).^[2][7] It was taken up again in the 16th century as “to belong, to be subject to”, then fell out of use.^[2] It was revived as an archaism in the sense “to hang up”, with Chateaubriand and in appendre des drapeaux (1863), mostly of objects hung up as offerings in a church.^[2][8] The adjective appendu “hung” dates from 1636.^[2]

Old French apendance (1233) and apendant were replaced by dépendance and dépendant.^[2]

Timeline

• 1080 – Apendre “to belong” in the Chanson de Roland.^[3][2]
• 12th century – The derivative appentis appears.^[2][7]
• 1233 – Apendance is recorded.^[2]
• 13th century – The sense “to hang up” appears.^[3][9]
• 1636 – Appendu “hung” is recorded.^[2]
• 1863 – Appendre des drapeaux is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (literary, dated) To hang up, especially as an ex-voto, a decoration or a tribute.^[10][9][8]
2. (intransitive, literary) To hang, to be suspended.^[8]
3. (reflexive, literary) S'appendre: to cling to something, or to be hung on it.^[8]

Word family

• appentis

Related words

• pendre
• dépendre¹
• appendice
• Latin appendō

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 33a
5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d 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
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)