concourir

Forms

concourir^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin concurrō (“to run together, meet, coincide”),^[2][3][4] formed from com- and currō (“to run”),^[3][5] with its ending remodelled after courir.^[2][3][5][1] In imperial Latin the verb was a legal term for “to claim the same thing”, and in Christian Latin it meant “to be of the same opinion”.^[2][3] It replaced the Middle French forms concurre “to meet” (1335) and concurrer “to agree” (16th century).^[2][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In its first record, in Claude de Seyssel’s translation of Diodorus (1530), it means “to come to the same place at the same time”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From meeting in one place, the verb passed to coinciding in time (Bossuet, 1681).^[2][3] To the idea of meeting was added that of taking part and contributing: in law, from 1558, it meant to have equal rights to something, and in common use, from 1636, to work towards the same effect.^[2][3] In geometry (1753) it is said of lines that meet at one point, and its present participle concourant became an adjective.^[2][3]

Under the influence of concours, the sense of competing for a prize or post developed, as in Voltaire’s Siècle de Louis XIV (1751).^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1335 – The older Middle French form concurre “to meet”.^[2][3]
• 1530 – Concourir in Seyssel’s translation of Diodorus.^[2]
• 1558 – A legal sense, “to have equal rights to something”.^[2][3]
• 1636 – Monet records the sense “to contribute to a common result”.^[2][3]
• 1681 – Bossuet uses it for coinciding in time.^[2]
• 1751 – Voltaire uses it for competing.^[2]
• 1753 – The Encyclopédie uses it in geometry.^[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. Concourir à: to contribute with others to the same result: tout concourait à son succès.^[7][8][1]
2. (intransitive) To compete for a prize, a post or a place: elle concourt pour le premier prix.^[7][1]
3. (geometry) Of lines, to converge on one point.^[7][9]
4. (law) To have equal rights or the same rank, as creditors whose claims are of the same date.^[9][2]

Related words

• concours
• courir
• concurrent
• concurrence
• Latin concurrō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1015b
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette