Etymologically
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combattre

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kɔ̃.batʁ/[1]

Forms

combattre[1] Old French cumbatre, combatre.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French cumbatre, inherited from Vulgar Latin *combattō, an alteration of Late Latin combattuō (“to fight with”) (6th century), formed from cum (“with”) and battuō (“to beat”), the source of battre.[3][2][4][5] Wiktionary adds that the Latin verb is of Gaulish origin.[1] Cognate with Old Occitan combatre, Spanish combatir and Italian combattere.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) soi cumbatre a means to fight against someone: Puis m'en cumbatre a Charle e a Franceis.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the verb was intransitive, often in the pronominal form; it became transitive in the 15th and 16th centuries (combatre qqn, late 14th century).[6][3][2] Since the 17th century it has had figurative values: to measure oneself against someone, as in Corneille's Rodrigue dans mon cœur combat encor mon père (1636), and to fight against a thing (1636, Monet).[3][2] The sense “to vie with someone” (combattre de politesse, 1740) is obsolete, but other metaphors have widened its use, as in combattre l'inflation.[2][3] Derivatives are combattant (1080 in the DHLF, 1472 in Bloch and Wartburg) and combat (1530).[2][7]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Cumbatre in the Chanson de Roland.[3]
  • Late 14th century – Transitive combatre qqn.[3]
  • 1530 – The noun combat.[7]
  • 1636 – Corneille: to struggle against, Monet: to fight a thing.[3]
  • 1740 – The Académie: to vie with someone.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To fight (an enemy, an opponent); to wage war on: combattre l'ennemi.[8][1]
  2. (intransitive) To fight, take part in a battle: combattre pour la liberté.[8][3]
  3. To oppose, struggle against (an idea, a person): combattre une hérésie.[8][1]
  4. To try to stop or overcome (an evil, a phenomenon): combattre un incendie, combattre la maladie.[8][2]
  5. Combattre le mal par le mal: to fight fire with fire.[1]

Word family

  • combat
  • combattant
  • combativité
  • combatif

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 936a
  6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert