Etymologically
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choisir

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʃwa.ziʁ/[1]

Forms

choisir[1] Old French coisir, then choisir.[2][3] Anglo-Norman also chesir, chousir.[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French coisir (“to make out, see distinctly”), borrowed from Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (kausjan, “to taste, examine; to test”), like Old Occitan causir (about 1070).[2][3][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg think it was taken over very early, probably as a military term.[5] Wiktionary allows also a Frankish “*kausjan”; both go back to Proto-Germanic *kausijaną, from Proto-Germanic *keusaną (“to choose, taste”), the source of German kiesen and English choose.[1][3] Rey relates it to Latin gustō (“to taste”) through the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *ǵews-.[3][1]

Littré cites dialect forms such as Picard keusir and Walloon chûzî.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first sense, in the Life of Saint Alexis (about 1050), is “to make out, see distinctly”, choisir de l'œil “to catch sight of” is common in the 16th century.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to take in preference” is first found in Chrétien de Troyes' Charrette (1177–79) and seems to have developed only in Gallo-Romance.[2] The old sense of seeing remained the main one until the end of the 15th century and died out in the 17th, except in French-speaking Switzerland.[5][3] In the 17th century choisir replaced its Latin-derived synonym élire in everyday use.[3] The participle choisi took the classical sense of “select, refined” (1664): termes choisis.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Coisir “to see distinctly”, Life of Saint Alexis.[2]
  • 1155 – The noun chois “choice”.[3]
  • 1177–79 – “To take in preference”, Chrétien de Troyes.[2]
  • 1509 – Choisir de l'œil, Lemaire de Belges.[2]
  • 17th century – The sense of seeing dies out.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To choose, select: to take someone or something in preference to others: choisir un cadeau, on l'a choisi pour ce poste.[8][9]
  2. To decide, to make up one's mind: choisir de partir, il faut choisir.[7][10]
  3. (obsolete) To make out, catch sight of.[1][2]

Word family

Usage notes

The proverb entre deux maux, il faut choisir le moindre means “of two evils, choose the lesser”.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 302b
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)