changer

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʃɑ̃.ʒe/^[1]

Forms

changer^[1] Old French changier, Picard canger.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French changier, inherited from Late Latin cambiō (“to exchange, barter”), recorded from Apuleius on beside cambīre.^[4][5][6][7] The Latin verb was a trade word, probably of Gaulish origin, Bloch and Wartburg compare Middle Irish “cimb” “tribute”.^[4][5][6][8] Littré's derivation from Ancient Greek κάμπτω (kámptō, “to bend”) is outdated.^[3] “Changer” gradually ousted the older muer, from Latin mūtō.^[4][5][6]

Cognate with Italian cambiare, Occitan cambiar and Spanish cambiar, and Walloon candjî.^[3][8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Franco-Provençal in Albéric de Pisançon's Alexandre (first third of the 12th century), and in French in the Roman d'Eneas (1160), in the sense “to make different, alter”.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

By the 1170s it was used intransitively, “to become different” (Chrétien de Troyes), and reflexively, “to be transformed” (Benoît de Sainte-Maure); changer en “to turn into” is in Montaigne (1580).^[4][5] With a noun of the same kind it meant “to replace one thing by another” (1155), soon built with de: changer d'avis appears in Montaigne.^[4][5]

The money-changer's sense, “to exchange coins for their equivalent” (1155), revives the trading sense of the Latin verb.^[5][4] Changer alone for changing one's linen, and changer un enfant, are recorded by the Académie in 1798.^[4] The imperative change de disque! “stop repeating yourself” dates from 1946.^[5] Among its early derivatives, change “exchange” gave the hunting sense of a second stag that the hounds follow by mistake (about 1160), whence prendre le change (1645) and donner le change (1654).^[5]

Timeline

• 1st third of the 12th century – Franco-Provençal changer in Albéric de Pisançon.^[4]
• 1155 – “To replace” and “to change money”, in Wace.^[4]
• 1160 – Changer “to alter” in the Roman d'Eneas.^[4]
• c. 1175 – Reflexive se changer “to be transformed”.^[4]
• 1580 – Changer d'advis and changer en in Montaigne.^[4][3]
• 1798 – The Académie records changer un enfant.^[4]
• 1946 – Change de disque!^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To give one thing in exchange for another; to change money: changer des euros contre des dollars.^[9][10]
2. To replace a thing or person by another of the same kind: changer une roue, changer un bébé.^[9]
3. Changer de: to move to, take another: changer de place, changer d'avis.^[9][4]
4. To make different, alter: changer quelque chose en.^[1][4]
5. (intransitive) To become different: il a beaucoup changé.^[11][1]
6. Se changer: to change one's clothes; to turn into something else.^[1][4]

Word family

• change
• changeable
• changement
• changeur
• inchangé
• interchangeable
• rechanger
• rechange

Related words

• échange
• échanger
• muer
• cambiste

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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
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 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. 2, 120a
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)