attester

Forms

attester^[1] Old French atester.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin attestor (“to bear witness to”), first recorded about 1200 in the form atester.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is formed from ad- and testor (“to bear witness”), itself derived from testis (“witness”).^[2][3][5][6] It is related to contester, détester and protester.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson d'Antioche (about 1200) has Pour ce que il voult mieus sa raison atester “because he wished the better to attest his words”, in the sense “to bear witness to, confirm”.^[5][7][2]

Semantic evolution

From the start the verb meant to bear witness, and with a thing as subject, to serve as evidence; so a word, sense or use of the language is said to be attesté by a text or a recording.^[2] Sixteenth-century writers such as Calvin and Montaigne used it both for bearing witness and for calling on divine vengeance.^[5]

The religious sense “to call (heaven, God) to witness” (1618), common in the classical language in j'atteste le ciel, j'en atteste les dieux, has become dated.^[2][8] The related noun attestation, borrowed from Latin in the mid-13th century, received in the 20th century the linguistic sense of a passage that proves and dates a use of a word (1940).^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – Atester appears in the Chanson d'Antioche.^[2][5][7]
• mid-13th century – The noun attestation is borrowed from Latin.^[2]
• 16th century – Calvin, Montaigne and Marot use the modern spelling attester.^[5]
• 1618 – First record of the sense “to call heaven or God to witness”.^[2]
• 1940 – Attestation is used of a dated linguistic record.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To bear witness to, certify or affirm the truth of something: j'atteste que ce témoin dit vrai.^[4][7][5]
2. (of a thing) To serve as evidence or proof of: ces ruines attestent l'ancienneté du village.^[4][7][5]
3. (philology) To provide an attestation, an example of a form or use of a word.^[8]
4. (literary, dated) To call to witness: attester le ciel, attester les dieux.^[8][7][2]
5. (pronominal) S'attester: to be shown, to be proved.^[8]

Related words

• attestation
• contester
• détester
• protester
• témoin
• Latin testis

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
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