décroître

Forms

décroître^[1] Old French descroistre and decroistre.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French dé- + croître according to the TLFi, the DHLF and the GLLF.^[4][5][6] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert derive it instead from Vulgar Latin *discrēscō, a variant of dēcrēscō (“to decrease”) remade after the simple verb.^[2][7] Bloch and Wartburg note that Old French often had decroistre after the Latin verb, and that this verb may have lived on in spoken Latin, with or without that remodelling;^[3] Wiktionary thinks a French formation more likely.^[1] The simple verb is from Latin crēscō (“to grow”).^[3][8]

Compare Old Occitan descreisser, Spanish descrecer and Italian discrescere.^[3][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1119 in Philippe de Thaon's Comput, used transitively, “to make smaller”.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the verb could still take an object: a 12th-century poem on Thomas Becket warns “se de rien la descreis” (“if you lessen her [the Church] in anything”).^[9] The intransitive use won out: a 13th-century text speaks of the great waves descreütes, gone down after the Flood.^[9] Classical French still used the verb more widely than today,^[6] but the modern verb is intransitive only, “to grow less little by little”.^[5][4]

It formed a family of its own: décroît (1174), first “decline” and later the waning of the Moon, décroissement (about 1210), décroissance (about 1265), décroissant (1276) and décrue (16th century), the falling of waters after a flood.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1119 – Philippe de Thaon uses it transitively in his Comput.^[4]
• 1160 – The form descroistre is recorded.^[2][7]
• 1174 – The derivative décroît appears.^[5]
• c. 1265 – Décroissance appears.^[5]
• 1542 – Décrue is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To decrease gradually, to grow smaller or weaker in size, strength, number or length: la rivière décroît depuis hier.^[4][7][10]
2. (intransitive) Of something moving away, to look smaller and smaller.^[7]

Word family

• décroissance
• décroissant
• décroissement
• décroît
• décrue

Related words

• croître
• accroître
• Latin dēcrēscō

Usage notes

It is conjugated like croître, but its past participle décru has no circumflex.^[2][7] The 1990 spelling reform allows décroitre.^[10][11]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1326a
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)