confrontation

Forms

confrontation f (plural confrontations)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin confrontātiō,^[2][3][4][1] recorded in 1080 for the strip where two properties meet, and in the 13th century for the comparison of two things set side by side.^[2][3] The Medieval Latin noun is formed on the supine of confrontō, the source of confronter.^[4][5] Cognate with Occitan confrontatio, Spanish confrontación and Italian confrontazione.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1341, in a document of the royal archives, for the boundary strip between two properties.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The sense of a boundary was lost in the 16th century;^[2][3] Charron still used it in 1593.^[2][3] The word passed into criminal procedure for bringing witnesses face to face (confrontations de tesmoings, 1585), and in 1690 Furetière records confrontation des écritures, the comparison of handwriting.^[2][3] From then on it carried the modern idea of placing people or things face to face to judge them by comparison, or of a face-off between opponents.^[3][2] Its existence seems to have kept the derivative confrontement (16th century) from spreading.^[3]

The datings of the legal sense differ: the Grand Robert has confrontation de témoins in 1385, and the GLLF and the Petit Robert date the sense 1463.^[4][5][7]

Timeline

• 1341 – First record, for the boundary of a property.^[2][3]
• 1585 – Noël du Fail writes of confrontations de tesmoings.^[2][3]
• 1593 – Last record of the boundary sense, in Charron.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records the comparison of handwriting.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (law) The bringing of an accused person face to face with the victim or the witnesses.^[2][7][6]
2. A comparison of things, facts or ideas set side by side: la confrontation de deux textes.^[2][7][5]
3. A face-to-face meeting of people, or a clash between opposing sides.^[2][3]

Related words

• confronter
• front
• affronter
• Medieval Latin confrontātiō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert