communiquer

Forms

communiquer^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin commūnicō (“to share, to have a part in, later to be in contact with”).^[2][3][4][5] The DHLF analyses the Latin verb as com- and a supposed derivative of mūnus (“duty, charge”);^[3] Littré derives it from commūnis (“common”).^[6] It is a doublet of communier.^[1]

Compare Old Occitan comunicar, Spanish comunicar and Italian comunicare.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1370 Nicole Oresme uses communiquer a for “to take part in something” and communiquer ensemble for “to be in mutual relation, in communion”.^[2][3] One of his lines asks whether the dead communiquent ou participent au bien ou as maulx of their living friends, that is, “share in” their good or ill fortune.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The sense of taking part was soon lost.^[3] From the 16th century the verb was used transitively for passing something on: a piece of news (1548), a disease (1585) and, in the 17th century, a feeling or a quality.^[2][3] Physics took it up for the transmission of heat or motion (1647, in a translation of Descartes),^[3] and Furetière's dictionary of 1690 has the magnet that passes its power to iron.^[2]

From 1681 it was said of places or rooms connected by a passage.^[3][7] Used absolutely, the verb later took on the modern sense of communication, shared with derivatives such as communicant and communicateur;^[3] the Petit Robert records its use for a firm that gets its message across to the public.^[8] The noun communiqué “official statement” dates from 1853.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1370 – Oresme uses it for “to take part in” and “to be in relation”.^[2]
• 1548 – Noël du Fail uses it for passing on news.^[2][3]
• 1585 – It is used of passing on a disease.^[2][3]
• 1647 – A translation of Descartes uses it for transmitting motion.^[3]
• 1681 – It is said of places joined by a passage.^[3][7]
• 1690 – Furetière records the magnet that passes its power to iron.^[2]
• 1853 – The noun communiqué appears.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make something known to someone, to pass on news or information, to hand over a document.^[8][2]
2. To make others share a feeling or quality.^[8][6]
3. To transmit motion, heat or light, or to pass on a disease.^[8][6]
4. (intransitive) To be in contact with someone, to exchange messages by speech, gesture or letter.^[8][7]
5. (intransitive) Of a firm or institution: to put its message across to the public.^[8]
6. (intransitive) Of rooms or places: to be connected by a passage.^[8][7]
7. (dated) Se communiquer: to open one's mind, to confide in others.^[8]

Word family

• communicable
• communiqué
• communicant
• communicateur

Related words

• communier
• communication
• communicatif
• commun
• Latin commūnicō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ 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, 960a
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert