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commenter

Etymology and origin of the French word commenter

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1314, Henri de Mondeville
Borrowed from
Latin commentor
Ultimate origin
Latin (mēns)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin commentor
French commenter

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kɔ.mɑ̃.te/[1]

Forms

commenter[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin commentārī (“to explain, interpret (writings)”), which in classical Latin meant “to meditate, apply one's mind to something”,[2][3][4][5] from com- and mēns (“mind”).[3][6][7] Wiktionary instead derives it from Latin commentum, from comminīscor (“to devise, invent”).[1]

Cognate with Spanish comentar and Italian commentare.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The surgeon Henri de Mondeville writes of declarations commentees in 1314, in the sense of explaining texts.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

French took the second, imperial Latin sense, first in the past participle.[3] Montaigne speaks of a scholar who a commenté Aristote.[7] In classical French the verb took the pejorative sense “to interpret maliciously” (1675), and Littré records commenter sur tout “to put a malicious construction on everything”;[2][7] it later returned to a neutral sense, in step with commentaire.[3]

The noun commentaire (1485) first meant “memoirs”, as in the title of Caesar's Commentaires, and has meant a text that explains another since 1675;[3][4] sans commentaire ! keeps its classical pejorative edge.[3] In journalism commentateur has meant a news commentator since 1904.[3]

Timeline

  • 1314 – Declarations commentees in Mondeville.[2]
  • c. 1370 – Commentateur, in Oresme.[3][4]
  • 1485 – Commentaire “memoirs”.[3]
  • 1675 – “To interpret maliciously”, in Widerhold.[2]
  • 1904 – Commentateur “news commentator”.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To explain or annotate (a text) with a commentary: commenter un poème.[8][6]
  2. To comment on, make remarks about (events, news): commenter l'actualité.[8][9]
  3. (dated) To put a malicious interpretation on (someone's doings).[8][6]

Word family

  • commentaire
  • commentateur

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e 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 k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 951b
  6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c 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)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Commenter.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/commenter. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·