conférer

Forms

conférer^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōnferō (“to bring together, compare, bestow”), formed from con- and ferō (“to carry”).^[2][3][4] The Latin verb meant literally “to carry together or to one point”, from which came “to contribute”, “to bestow” and “to exchange words”.^[3] The change to the first conjugation is French.^[5] Cognate with Spanish conferir and Italian conferire.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Nicole Oresme uses it in his translation of Aristotle's Ethics (1370–1372) in the sense “to give, bestow” and also “to contribute”.^[2][5][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to grant a dignity, an honour or a privilege by virtue of one's authority” came from the Latin phrase honores conferre; it gave conférer un office (1482), then the religious use conférer un sacrement.^[3][2] With Chateaubriand and, at the end of the 19th century, with abstract subjects, it came to mean “to give a quality”;^[3] Rey sees in this the influence of English confer.^[3]

The learned sense “to compare”, taken from Latin (1370–1380), survived mainly for texts (1616–1620) and in the abbreviation cf. for conférez “compare”.^[3][2] The intransitive sense “to talk something over”, recorded about 1455 in Georges Chastellain and influenced by conférence, is the one in the title of Montaigne's essay De l'art de conférer; it is now mostly literary.^[3][2][6]

Timeline

• 1370–1372 – Oresme uses it for “to bestow”.^[2]
• 1370–1380 – A translation of Ovid uses it for “to compare”.^[2][3]
• c. 1455 – Georges Chastellain uses it for “to confer with someone”.^[2]
• 1482 – Conférer un office “to confer an office” is recorded at Tournai.^[2][3]
• 1616–1620 – D'Aubigné uses it for comparing texts.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To grant or bestow a title, rank, honour or power by virtue of one's authority: conférer un grade à un officier.^[7][8][9]
2. (transitive) To give a quality or an advantage (said of a thing): les privilèges que confère l'âge.^[7][9]
3. (transitive, religion) To administer a sacrament: conférer les ordres sacrés.^[7][5]
4. (transitive, dated) To compare texts to establish their likenesses and differences.^[2][7]
5. (intransitive) To hold a discussion with someone on a set subject: les ministres ont conféré pendant une heure.^[7][8]

Related words

• conférence
• Latin cōnferō

References

1. ^ a b 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)