déclamer

Forms

déclamer^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēclāmō (“to practise speaking, to declaim”).^[2][3][4][5] The Latin verb is formed from dē-, with intensive force, and clāmō (“to cry out”).^[6][7][8] In Latin it was used transitively for setting out a subject in a preparatory speaking exercise, intransitively for practising oratory, and sometimes, pejoratively, for railing or shouting.^[3][7] The related nouns déclamation and déclamateur and the adjective déclamatoire were borrowed from Latin too.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1542, in Étienne Dolet's translation of Cicero's familiar letters, meaning to set out a text by marking its sense through the intonation.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century it was also used intransitively of the orators' exercise of declamation: Amyot writes of hearing all the masters of rhetoric harangue and declaim.^[7][8] The intransitive déclamer contre “to speak violently against” (about 1630, Patru) is already found in a quotation by Du Perron.^[7][8]

Like déclamation, déclamateur and déclamatoire, the verb took a pejorative sense in the 17th century: to say something pompously, with emphasis (1688, La Bruyère).^[4][7]

Timeline

• 1542 – Étienne Dolet uses it in his translation of Cicero's letters.^[2][3]
• 16th century – Amyot uses it for the declamation of the masters of rhetoric.^[8][7]
• c. 1630 – Patru uses déclamer contre “to speak violently against”.^[7]
• 1688 – La Bruyère uses it pejoratively for speaking with emphasis.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To recite aloud, marking the sense with the intonation and sometimes the gestures: Il déclama la tirade devant toute la classe..^[9][2][8]
2. (pejorative) To say something pompously, in a declamatory tone.^[9][7]
3. (intransitive, literary) Déclamer contre: to speak violently against someone or something; to inveigh.^[9][7][8]

Related words

• déclamation
• déclamateur
• déclamatoire
• clamer
• Latin dēclāmō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c 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. 3, 25b
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e f 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