contredire

Forms

contredire^[1] Old French and Anglo-Norman cuntredire, countredire.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French contredire, borrowed from Latin contrādīcō (“to speak against, oppose”), adapted after dire.^[4][5][1] The Latin verb is from contrā (“against”) and dīcō (“to say”).^[5][6][7]

Cognate with Italian contradire, Occitan contradire, Catalan contradir, Spanish contradecir and Portuguese contradizer.^[8][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in the Sequence of Saint Eulalia (about 880), in the sense “to refuse, oppose, prevent”: La domnizelle celle kose non contredist (“the maiden did not refuse that thing”).^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

In Old and Middle French the verb had the broad sense “to oppose, refuse, prevent”, still found in the 16th century.^[4][5] From about 1165–1170, in Chrétien de Troyes, it narrowed to a verbal act: to state the opposite of what someone has asserted.^[4][5] The reflexive se contredire followed in the 15th century, in Villon.^[4]

By extension it came to mean “to go against, belie” outside speech, and in law (1549) “to answer the other party's documents with documents of one's own”.^[5][3] Its participles gave the nouns contredit (about 1170), now legal or literary but usual in sans contredit “unquestionably”, and contredisant (about 1450).^[5][4]

Timeline

• c. 880 – Contredist “refused” appears in the Sequence of Saint Eulalia.^[4][3]
• 11th century – The Chanson de Roland uses it for “to refuse”.^[3]
• 1113–1119 – First Anglo-Norman record.^[2]
• 1165–1170 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it for “to say the contrary” in Erec.^[4][5]
• c. 1170 – Senz cuntredit “without contradiction” appears in the Livre des Rois.^[4]
• c. 1450 – Contredisant is used as a noun.^[4][5]
• 15th century – Villon uses se contredire.^[4]
• 1549 – The legal sense is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To contradict someone, to say the opposite of what they say: contredire un témoin.^[9][4]
2. To deny or dispute a statement: contredire une affirmation.^[9][3]
3. To go against, be inconsistent with something: les chiffres contredisent son discours.^[4][5]
4. (law) To oppose with written pleadings the conclusions and documents of the other party.^[3][5]
5. Se contredire: to contradict oneself, to say things that are inconsistent.^[9]

Word family

• contredit

Related words

• dire
• contradiction
• contradicteur
• contradictoire
• Latin contrādīcō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert