découverte

Forms

découverte f (plural découvertes)^[1] Old and Middle French descoverte, descouverte.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from French découvrir (“to uncover, to discover”), whose feminine past participle came to be used as a noun.^[2][3][4][5] The verb continues Late Latin discooperiō (“to uncover”), found in the Vulgate, a compound of cooperiō (“to cover”).^[5]

Littré compares Spanish descubierta.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in 1209, in Reclus de Molliens' Charité, in the phrase a le descoverte, meaning “openly, frankly”.^[2][7] Montaigne still writes of making love à la descouverte, that is openly.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense “openly” of à la découverte has disappeared entirely, and the phrase came to mean “so as to explore”.^[7] Linked with the verb, the noun took the sense “the act of finding what was unknown or hidden” in the late 16th century (Montaigne, 1595), first in the setting of the voyages of exploration of the Renaissance, later called les grandes découvertes.^[2][7] The Petit Robert dates this sense to 1587.^[8] In 16th-century military language faire les descouvertes was to scout.^[6]

The scientific sense, the establishing of a truth by research, seems to date from the 19th century and has drifted somewhat away from the verb.^[7] In the theatre the word has named a piece of scenery that suggests the background behind an opening since 1870.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 1209 – A le descoverte “openly” in Reclus de Molliens.^[2]
• 1587 – First record of the sense “act of finding what was hidden”.^[8][7]
• 1595 – Montaigne uses descouverte in this sense.^[2][9]
• 1870 – A theatre term for a backdrop seen through an opening.^[7][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of discovering what was unknown, hidden or ignored: la découverte d'un complot;^[8][4] les grandes découvertes, the age of exploration.^[8][4]
2. À la découverte: in order to explore: partir à la découverte de la ville.^[8][4]
3. The bringing to light of a phenomenon or object that already existed: a scientific or archaeological discovery.^[8]
4. The act of inventing something new; an invention.^[8]
5. The thing discovered; a person who is a revelation: Cette chanteuse est la découverte de la saison.^[8]
6. (theatre, cinema) A piece of scenery placed behind an opening to suggest the background.^[8][7]

Related words

• découvrir
• découvreur
• découvert
• Late Latin discooperiō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b 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 c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF