asseoir

Pronunciation

• IPA: /a.swaʁ/^[1]

Forms

asseoir^[1] Old French asseir (about 980), asseoir; the 1990 spelling reform allows assoir.^[2][1] Both present tenses j'assieds and j'assois are in use, Littré traced them to western and central pronunciations.^[2][1][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French asseoir, inherited from Vulgar Latin *assedeō, a remaking after the simple verb sedeō (“to sit”) of Latin assideō (“to sit beside”), from ad (“to”).^{[5][6][4][7][1]} Latin “assidēre” also meant “to tend (a patient)” and “to besiege”, a sense frequent in Old French.^[6][3]

South of a line from the Gironde estuary to northern Lorraine, dialects use descendants of a derived “*assedītāre”, like Old Occitan assetar and Italian assettare.^[6] The reflexive s'asseoir“ replaced ”se seoir, still used in the early 18th century.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 980 the Passion of Clermont uses asseir for “to place, fix”.^[2][5] The reflexive is found in the mid-11th century, and the Chanson de Roland has Al faldestoed s'est Marsiles assis “Marsile sat on the throne”.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

From 1119 it also meant “to establish, institute”, and, from the 12th century it was said of fixing a tax or rent, in connection with assiette.^[5][8] The transitive asseoir quelqu'un “to seat someone” is found in the 13th century.^[5] Asseoir un camp, asseoir son autorité continue the sense “to set firmly”.^[3][8]

In 19th-century familiar speech asseoir meant “to dumbfound” (Zola, 1875), and va t'asseoir ! was a popular retort (1869).^[9] The participle assis gives magistrature assise and the vote par assis et levé.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 980 – Asseir in the Passion of Clermont.^[2]
• Mid-11th century – The reflexive s'asseoir.^[5]
• c. 1100 – S'est assis in the Chanson de Roland.^[3]
• 1119 – “To establish, institute”.^[5]
• 12th century – Asseoir a tax, assise, rasseoir.^[5][6]
• 13th century – Transitive asseoir quelqu'un.^[5]
• 1875 – “To dumbfound”, in Zola.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To seat, sit (someone) down: asseoir un enfant sur une chaise.^[8][1]
2. S'asseoir: to sit down: asseyez-vous.^[1][8]
3. To set on a firm base; to establish: asseoir son autorité.^[8][2]
4. To assess, fix the basis of (a tax).^[8][3]
5. (familiar) To dumbfound: ça m'a assis.^[2][9]

Word family

• assise
• rasseoir

Related words

• assis
• seoir
• assiette
• siège

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 395b
8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF