bondir

Forms

bondir^[1] Old French bundir, then bondir from the 13th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French bundir (“to resound”), inherited from Vulgar Latin *bombitiō.^[2][3][4][5] Rey takes the popular Latin verb as a variant, perhaps after *tinnitiō (the source of Old French tentir, see retentir), of Late Latin bombitō (4th century), a frequentative of bombiō (“to buzz”), said of bees.^[2][6] The Grand Robert takes this verb back to bombus (“buzzing, booming noise”).^[3][1]

The sense “to leap” is explained as a shift from the sound of a resounding blow to the movement it shakes,^[7][6] or, after Guiraud, through Middle French bonde (“tennis ball”), the bouncing of the ball.^[2][3] Cognate with Old Occitan bondir (“to resound”) and Catalan bonir.^[6][7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (1080) bundir means “to resound”, said of the olifant horn: bundist li olifant.^[2][7][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to resound”, also used transitively for “to make resound”, prevailed in Old and Middle French and went out of use during the 16th century.^[2][6] The modern sense “to leap” is attested only rarely in the 13th century;^[2][6] Bloch and Wartburg place it through “to be shaken”.^[2][6]

A figurative use, “to react under a strong emotion”, appears in 1690 in le cœur bondit; today bondir is a stronger word than sauter.^[2] The English verb bound “to leap” (1590s) was taken from it.^[9]

Timeline

• 1080 – Bundir “to resound” in the Chanson de Roland.^[2][4]
• 13th century – The form bondir and, rarely, the sense “to leap”.^[2][3]
• 1379 – The derivative bondissement is recorded.^[2]
• 16th century – The old sense “to resound” goes out of use.^[2][6]
• 1584 – Faire faux bond, from the derivative bond.^[2]
• 1590s – English borrows it as bound.^[9]
• 1690 – Le cœur bondit “the heart leaps” with emotion.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To leap, spring up suddenly from the ground: les chèvres bondissent sur les rochers.^[10][4][11]
2. Bondir sur: to pounce on: le chat bondit sur la souris.^[10][11][12]
3. To rush somewhere in great haste: il a bondi vers la porte.^[10][4]
4. (figurative) To start up with an emotion: bondir de joie, bondir de colère.^[10][12][4]
5. Faire bondir: to make indignant, outrage.^[10][12]
6. (obsolete) Of a sound, to resound.^[12][2]

Word family

• bond
• bondissement
• rebondir
• rebondissement

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 n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 429b
6. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
12. ^ 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