cuider

Forms

cuider^[1] Old French quidier and cuidier;^[2][3] cuider from the 13th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French cuidier, inherited from Latin cōgitō (“to think, imagine”).^[2][4][5][1] The Latin verb is formed from com- and agitō (“to stir, drive”).^[6][7] It is a doublet of cogiter, a borrowing of the same verb.^[1]

Cognate with Old Occitan cuidar, Spanish cuidar and Portuguese cuidar.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1050 in the Vie de saint Alexis, as quidier “to think, believe”.^[2][6] The Chanson de Roland has Si grant duel a, sempres cuida morir “he has such grief that he thought he would die at once”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Cuidier was one of the commonest verbs of Old French, yet it later dropped out of use altogether.^[3] The reflexive se cuider “to be vain, think much of oneself” is recorded in 1330–34, and in the classical language it meant “to strut, show off”.^[2][6][7] Nicot (1606) still defined the verb as “to hold an opinion, presume”.^[8] He named oultrecuidé “overweening” as its derivative; outrecuidance belongs to the same family.^[8] Cotgrave (1611) recorded the infinitive as a noun, “a thought, conceit, presumption”, with the proverb cuider n'est pas iuste mesure.^[9]

From 1662 (Duez) the verb was labelled obsolete;^[2] La Fontaine used it in a saying put in Merlin's mouth.^[6] Since then it has been a literary or playful archaism, as in Flaubert's je cuydais crever de fatigue (1868).^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Quidier “to think” in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[2]
• 1330–34 – Se cudier “to be vain” in Girart de Roussillon.^[2]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the noun cuider “thought, presumption”.^[9]
• 1662 – Duez labels the verb obsolete.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (literary, humorous) To believe, to think, to ween.^[2][6][1]
2. Se cuider: to believe oneself, imagine oneself to be; in the classical language, to strut or show off.^[2][6][7]

Noun

1. (obsolete) The infinitive used as a noun: a thought, an opinion, a presumption.^[9][10]

Related words

• outrecuidance
• outrecuidant
• cogiter
• Latin cōgitō

Usage notes

Littré also records a separate noun cuider, a long basket for picking and carrying fruit.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 838b
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Nicot, Jean (1606), Thresor de la langue françoyse, tant ancienne que moderne, Paris: David Douceur
9. ^ a b c Cotgrave, Randle (1611), A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: Adam Islip
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)