dédaigner

Forms

dédaigner^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French dé- + daigner, first as Old French desdeignier.^[2][3][4][1] Littré traced it instead to Latin dēdignor (“to disdain”), and Wiktionary allows that it may correspond to a Vulgar Latin *disdignō or to the Latin verb.^[5][1] The simple verb itself goes back to Latin dignor (“to deem worthy”).^[5]

Cognate with Occitan desdegnar, Catalan desdenyar, Spanish desdeñar, Portuguese desdenhar and Italian disdegnare.^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as the present participle desdeinanz in the Cambridge Psalter (first half of the 12th century), with the old sense “being indignant”.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Its modern sense “to reject, to scorn”, the opposite of daigner, appears in Chrétien de Troyes's Cligès (1165–76).^[2][6] The construction dédaigner de with an infinitive, “to refuse to do something” with a note of contempt, followed in 1579, in Robert Garnier's La Troade.^[2][6] The GLLF dates the sense “to refuse with contempt what one thinks unworthy” to Amyot, in the mid-16th century.^[7]

While daigner has no derivatives, dédaigner gave the noun dédain (about 1155) and the adjective dédaigneux (1165–1170).^[6]

Timeline

• 1100–1150 – Desdeinanz “indignant” in the Cambridge Psalter.^[2]
• c. 1155 – The noun desdein (now dédain) is recorded.^[6]
• 1165–76 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it for “to reject, to scorn” in Cligès.^[2]
• before 1270 – The adjective desdaignable is recorded.^[2]
• 1579 – Dédaigner de “to refuse to” appears in Robert Garnier.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To regard or treat someone or something with disdain, as unworthy of attention; to despise.^[4][2][1]
2. (transitive) To reject or decline with contempt; by extension, to neglect, as in ce n'est pas à dédaigner, it is not to be sneezed at.^[4][7]
3. (literary) Dédaigner de with an infinitive: not to deign to do something.^[4][7]

Word family

• dédain
• dédaigneux
• dédaignable

Related words

• daigner
• Latin dignor

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse