confronter

Forms

confronter^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin cōnfrontō, a legal term meaning “to border on”, recorded in Gascony in 1289.^[2][3][4][1] The Medieval Latin verb is a compound of cum (“with”) and frōns (“forehead, front”).^[2][3][5][6]

Cognate with Occitan confrontar, Spanish confrontar and Italian confrontare.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1344, in the sense “to be situated next to, to border on”, as in Latin.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

From 1371 it meant “to fix the limits of (a piece of land)”, a sense still listed in 1878 that survives only in some regional speech.^[3][2] By metaphor, and under the influence of confrontation, which was already used figuratively in Old French, it passed to “to determine by a face-to-face meeting” and to the modern sense “to compare” (1538).^[3] This sense often includes an idea of opposition or conflict, already present in its use in criminal law, confronter des témoins (1585).^[3][2] The construction être confronté à “to have to face (a difficulty)” is criticized by the Petit Robert.^[8]

Timeline

• 1289 – Medieval Latin confrontare “to border on” is recorded in Gascony.^[2][3]
• 1344 – First French record, “to border on”.^[2][3]
• 1371 – It means “to fix the limits of land”.^[2][3]
• 1538 – Robert Estienne records the sense “to compare”.^[2][5]
• 1585 – Noël du Fail writes confronter des tesmoins.^[2]
• 1878 – The Académie still records the sense “to border on”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bring face to face (persons whose statements disagree), especially witnesses and the accused, to explain the contradictions.^[8][7]
2. Être confronté à: to be faced with (a difficulty), a use some consider incorrect.^[8]
3. To compare point by point, to collate: confronter deux traductions.^[8][5]
4. (dated, regional) To border on, to be adjacent to.^[2][5]

Related words

• confrontation
• affronter
• front
• Latin frōns

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 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1045b
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert