consigner

Forms

consigner^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōnsignō (“to mark with a sign, to seal”), formed from cum and signō (“to mark”), from signum (“mark, seal”).^[2][3][4] The Latin verb also meant “to record in a document with the marks of authenticity” and later (6th century) “to hand over, give”;^[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg add “to deposit a sum of money” in legal Latin.^[5] The sense of the first French record, “to mark out with a boundary stone”, is found in Medieval Latin from 819.^[2]

Cognate with Occitan consignar, Spanish consignar and Italian consegnare;^[6] Littré also cites the Genevan form ⟨consiner⟩.^[6] It is related to signer.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A document of 1345 cited by Godefroy uses it for marking out a piece of land with a boundary stone, a sense found only there.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Rey groups its senses under the idea of registering something under given conditions, starting with “to deposit money as a guarantee” (1402, the journal of Nicolas de Baye).^[3][2] In trade it meant to place goods with a consignee (1723, Savary des Bruslons), and in the 20th century to leave luggage at a station's left-luggage office (1907),^[3][2] and to charge for a container that will be refunded when returned.^[4][7] In Anglo-Norman consigner meant to stamp goods with a mark of quality (1358).^[8]

With a person as object it meant “to keep prisoner” in a letter of Louis XI (1467), a sense taken up again in the 18th century (1743) in the army and later at school, where the familiar coller tends to replace it.^[3][2] The sense “to put in writing”, taken back from Latin, is recorded by Furetière in 1690.^[2][3] From the idea of keeping someone in came “to bar access”, now mostly in consigner sa porte and military orders.^[3][2] English consign (mid-15th century) is from French and directly from Latin.^[9]

Timeline

• 1345 – A charter uses consigner for marking out land with a boundary stone.^[2][5]
• 1396 – The derivative consignation appears.^[5][3]
• 1402 – Nicolas de Baye uses it for depositing a sum as a guarantee.^[2][4]
• 1467 – A letter of Louis XI uses it for keeping someone prisoner.^[2][3]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “to put in writing”.^[2][4]
• 1723 – Savary des Bruslons records the commercial senses.^[2]
• 1740 – The Académie records the noun consigne in its modern sense.^[5]
• 1743 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux has consigner un prisonnier.^[2]
• 1907 – The Larousse pour tous records the sense “to leave luggage at the left-luggage office”.^[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To deposit a sum or an object as a guarantee: Il a consigné la somme chez le notaire.^[10][2]
2. (commerce) To send goods to a consignataire, to consign.^[10][1]
3. To leave (luggage) at the consigne of a station.^[2][4]
4. To charge provisionally for a container, refunded when it is brought back.^[4][7]
5. To record in writing, especially in an official document: Le greffier a consigné sa déclaration.^[10][1]
6. To keep (someone) from going out as a punishment or by order: to confine a soldier to barracks, to give a pupil detention.^[10][1]
7. To forbid access to (a place or thing): consigner sa porte (dated), to refuse entry to visitors.^[2][3]

Word family

• consigne
• consignataire
• consignation
• consignateur

Related words

• signer
• Latin cōnsignō
• English consign

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 r s 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert