comporter

Forms

comporter^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin comportō (“to carry together, transport, collect”),^[2][3][1][4] from com- and portō (“to carry”).^[3][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg think the Latin verb must have taken the sense “to bear, endure” in late Latin.^[7] The senses “to contain”, “to endure” and the reflexive “to behave” are extensions from the figurative uses of porter¹.^[2][3]

Cognate with Italian comportare “to endure”, Occitan comportar, Catalan comportar, Spanish comportar and Portuguese comportar “to bear, tolerate”.^[8][6] According to Meyer-Lübke, the Old French verb in the sense “to carry about, to report” was remade in the 16th century as colporter.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first sense, at the end of the 12th century in Elioxe, was “to carry (in one's arms)”; it is recorded until 1611.^[2][3] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has it in the sense “to bear, yield” in 1235–1255.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The concrete sense “to carry in one's arms”, still found in the 17th century, was given up for the simple verb porter¹.^[3] Like the figurative senses of porter, the verb came to mean “to bear within, contain, include” (about 1450), and the reflexive se comporter “to act in a certain way towards someone” (1579).^[2][3]

The senses “to make possible” and “to tolerate, endure” (before 1550) have died out, though some 19th- and 20th-century writers still used them for style.^[3][2] The noun comportement (after 1450) comes from the reflexive use and was taken up by the psychologist Piéron in 1908.^[3]

Timeline

• late 12th century – Comporter “to carry in one's arms” appears in Elioxe.^[2][3]
• 1235–1255 – Anglo-Norman comporter “to bear, yield”.^[9]
• c. 1450 – Used for “to contain, include”, in the Mistère du Viel Testament.^[2][3]
• 1475 – The derivative comportement is recorded.^[7]
• first half of the 16th century – Used for “to tolerate, endure”.^[2][3]
• 1579 – Henri Estienne has se comporter envers qqn “to behave towards someone”.^[2]
• 1611 – Last record of the sense “to carry in one's arms”.^[2]
• 1908 – Piéron takes up comportement in psychology.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To include, to involve or entail as a part or consequence: Ce projet comporte des risques.^[10][1]
2. To consist of, to comprise: La maison comporte quatre chambres.^[10][1]
3. (dated, literary) To allow, to admit of.^[2][11]
4. Reflexive se comporter: to behave, to act in a certain way: se comporter bien, se comporter mal.^[10][6][1]

Word family

• comportement

Related words

• colporter
• porter¹
• Latin comportō

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 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 986b
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
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 Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse