Etymologically
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changer

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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compare Middle Irish “cimb” “tribute”.[4][5][6][8] Littré's derivation from Ancient Greek κάμπτω (kámptō, “to bend”) is outdated.[3] “Changer” gradually ousted the older muer, from Latin mūtō.[4][5][6]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

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)