contourner

Forms

contourner^[1] Old French contorner.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French contorner, inherited from Vulgar Latin *contornō, recorded only in the 8th century.^[2][4][5] This verb is made of com- and tornō (“to turn on a lathe”), the latter from tornus (“lathe”), from Ancient Greek τόρνος (tórnos).^[2][6] The Grand Robert adds that the French verb was reshaped after tourner.^[7] Littré and Wiktionary analyse it as that verb with the prefix con-.^[8][1]

Although first recorded in 1311, the verb must be older, since its back-formation contour is found about 1200.^[3][2][4] The artistic sense “to draw the outline of” (1651) was probably taken from Italian contornare, of the same origin.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, from 1311, uses contorner of a piece of land in the sense “to lie, be situated”, an isolated use.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In Old and Middle French the verb meant “to turn, turn towards or against someone or something” (about 1360), a sense alive until the 17th century.^[3][4] In the 16th century it meant “to surround”, figuratively of arms (1512) and of rocks around an island (1575), which led to the modern “to go round” (1761, of an enemy fleet).^[3][2] The sense “to twist, distort” (1548) lives on mostly in the participle contourné, used of over-elaborate shapes and, figuratively, of laboured style.^[2]

The fine-arts sense “to trace the outlines of a figure” dates from 1651, and potters used it for shaping a vase (1721).^[3] Figuratively it means “to get round” a difficulty or a law, the sense behind incontournable.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – The derivative contour is recorded.^[3][2]
• 1311 – Contorner “to be situated”, of a piece of land.^[3]
• c. 1360 – “To turn towards or against”, in Baudouin de Sebourc.^[3]
• 1512 – Lemaire de Belges uses it for “to surround”.^[3]
• 1548 – Noël du Fail uses it for “to twist”.^[3][2]
• 1651 – A fine-arts term, “to draw the outline”, in the translation of Leonardo's treatise.^[3]
• 1761 – First recorded as “to go round”, of an enemy at sea.^[3][2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To go round, pass around something: Le sentier contourne le lac.^[10][9]
2. (figurative) To get round, circumvent: contourner un règlement.^[9][1]
3. (art, dated or literary) To trace the outlines of a figure, give shape to an ornament.^[3][8]
4. To give a curved, often complicated shape to something; to twist.^[11][6]

Word family

• incontournable
• contour

Related words

• tourner
• détourner
• Latin tornō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 73a
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)