démarrer

Forms

démarrer^[1] Middle French desamarrer (about 1345), desmarer.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French dé- + amarrer, or from dé- and Old French marrer with the prefix replaced.^{[4][5][6][1][7]} An earlier desamarrer (“to break the moorings”) is found about 1345.^[2][3] The verb amarrer is a borrowing from Dutch aanmarren (“to moor”),^[7][8] and was used in the general sense of fastening in Norman and western dialects, especially near the coast.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In 1491 the reflexive se desmarer was used of a ship that breaks its moorings.^[2][6][9]

Semantic evolution

The word first belonged to sailing: démarrer a boat or a gun was to cast off its moorings (1572, Ronsard), and intransitively a ship démarrait when it left port (1546).^[2][5][9] Already in 1622–1623 Sorel used démarrer de for a person “leaving” a place, a familiar sense no longer felt as nautical.^[2][9]

On land the verb came to mean “to start moving” of any vehicle (about 1820),^[2] “to speed up” in sport (1895) and, of an engine, “to start” (1905); transitively, to start an engine (1927).^[2][9] The démarreur, the starter of a car, dates from 1908.^[9] The figurative sense “to get going, to begin to succeed” is from 1948, and démarrer un travail “to begin a job” from 1955.^[9][2]

Timeline

• c. 1345 – Desamarrer appears in the customs of Oléron.^[2][3]
• 1491 – Se desmarer is used of a ship breaking its moorings.^[2]
• 1546 – First intransitive use at sea.^[2][5]
• 1572 – Ronsard uses it transitively in the Franciade.^[2]
• 1622 – Sorel uses démarrer de “to leave”.^[9][5]
• c. 1820 – Used of a vehicle starting to move.^[2]
• 1905 – Used of an engine starting.^[2]
• 1948 – Figurative sense “to get going”.^[9][6]
• 1955 – The Robert records démarrer “to begin (a job)”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) Of a vehicle or engine, to start moving or running: le bus démarre.^[10][11]
2. (intransitive, figurative) Of an undertaking, to get going, to begin to succeed.^[9][6]
3. (intransitive, nautical) Of a ship, to cast off, to leave port.^[5][11]
4. (transitive) To start (an engine, a vehicle, a computer): démarrer la voiture.^[5][1]
5. (transitive, familiar) To begin, to launch (a task): démarrer un chantier.^[5][11]
6. (transitive, nautical) To unmoor a boat.^[5][3]

Word family

• démarrage
• démarreur
• redémarrer

Related words

• amarrer
• amarre

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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 Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/1, 3b
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b c Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)