Etymologically
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atteindre

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a.tɛ̃dʁ/[1]

Forms

atteindre[1] Old French ataindre, ateindre; the spellings ataindre, attaindre are frequent until the 17th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French ataindre, from popular Latin inherited from Vulgar Latin *attangō, a remaking of classical attingō (“to touch; to reach, arrive at”) after the simple verb tangō (“to touch”).[3][2][4][5][6][1] The family of “tangere” also gave tact, tactile, intègre, contigu and contagion; the Petit Robert relates it to an Indo-European root “*tag-” “to touch”, and Rey thinks it is perhaps related to Gothic 𐍄𐌴𐌺𐌰𐌽 (tēkan) and English take.[3][5] Pierre Guiraud saw in it, as in attacher and attaquer, usually given a Germanic origin, a popular derivative of “attingere”.[3]

Compare Romanian atinge, Italian attingere, Occitan atenher, Catalan atànyer, Spanish atañer and Portuguese atingir.[5] Old Occitan had both “atanher” “to belong, befit”, from “*attangere”, and “atenher” “to reach”, from “attingere”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it means to catch up with a fugitive (Vers Saragoce il les vont ateignant) and, of an evil, to attack (Nes poet garder que mals ne lui ateigne).[3][7]

Semantic evolution

In the 12th century ataindre qqn de qqch. was to hit and wound someone, and about 1155 the verb was already used figuratively for “to equal, reach the same level”.[3] The construction with à (“to manage to, succeed in”) was common in the classical period and is now an archaism.[3][8] The derivative atteinte (atainte, about 1295) was at first figurative; the past participle atteint is used mostly of a person affected by an illness, especially mentally.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Ataindre, Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • 12th century – To hit and wound.[3]
  • c. 1155 – “To equal”.[3]
  • c. 1295 – Atainte.[3]
  • 17th century – The spelling atteindre prevails.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To reach, arrive at (a place): nous atteindrons Paris dans vingt minutes; to catch up with.[5][9]
  2. To reach (something placed high), get hold of: atteindre un livre sur une étagère.[9][5]
  3. To hit (with a missile or weapon): la balle l'a atteint au bras.[2]
  4. To reach (a level, age or amount): atteindre la soixantaine, les prix ont atteint des records.[9][7]
  5. To attain, achieve: atteindre un but.[5][1]
  6. To affect, of an illness or misfortune: être atteint d'une maladie; to contact (someone).[1][9]
  7. (literary) Atteindre à: to attain with effort.[8]

Word family

  • atteinte
  • atteint

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d e f 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, 732b
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse