Etymology and origin of the French word démettre
démettre1 to dislocate
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- c. 1100 Chanson de Roland
- Ultimate origin
- Latin mittō
Etymology tree of démettre1
Pronunciation
- /de.mɛtʁ/[1]
Forms
démettre (conjugated like mettre; past participle démis).[2][3]
Etymology
The verb for dislocating a joint is formed from French dé- + mettre.[4][2][5][1] It is recorded in the Chanson de Roland in a sense the DHLF says it has lost, “to melt, dissolve”.[4][3]
Earliest recorded meaning
In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) a man is neirs cume peiz ki est demise, “black as melted pitch”.[4][6]
Semantic evolution
The sense “to put out of joint” is found about 1270 (Huon de Cambrai) according to the TLFi;[4][3] the Grand Robert and the GLLF date it to 1538, after an older sense “to take away, carry off” in the 13th century.[2][5] The pronominal use, se démettre un membre, is recorded from about 1560 (Paré).[5] The verb lives on mainly in this reflexive use and in its participle démis, used as an adjective of a joint out of place.[3]
Timeline
- c. 1100 – Demise “melted” in the Chanson de Roland.[4]
- c. 1270 – Demetre “to dislocate” in Huon de Cambrai.[4][3]
- 1538 – R. Estienne records the present sense.[5][2]
- c. 1560 – Paré uses se démettre of a limb.[5]
Meanings
Verb
démettre2 to dismiss; to resign
Etymology tree of démettre2
Pronunciation
- /de.mɛtʁ/[1]
Forms
démettre (conjugated like mettre; past participle démis).[2][7]
Etymology
The verb for dismissing someone from office is inherited from Old French demetre, inherited from Latin dīmittō (“to send away, dismiss”),[2][7][6] from dis- and mittō (“to send”).[2][5] Bloch and Wartburg instead see the derivative of mettre, which took the sense “to withdraw from an office” in the 13th century after Latin dēmittō (“to let down, throw down”).[8] The FEW files all the senses of the verb under the same etymon as the simple verb.[9]
Cognate with Old Occitan demetre, Spanish dimitir and Italian dimettere.[6]
Earliest recorded meaning
The Grand Robert dates the pronominal use to 1155 and the transitive one to about 1220.[2][7] In Old French the verb meant to send away, oust or set free, and reflexively to give up or withdraw from something.[10][11]
Semantic evolution
In the 13th century Beaumanoir writes of those who think they can withdraw at will (s'en puissent demettre) from an arbitration they have accepted.[6] In the 14th and 15th centuries se demettre de son estat or de l'office meant to resign an office, as in Bersuire and Froissart.[6][11] The transitive sense, to remove someone from an office, is recorded by Eustache Deschamps (before 1407);[5] in law, démettre quelqu'un de son appel, to dismiss an appeal, is in the Académie's dictionary of 1835.[5][7] The Petit Robert quotes Gambetta's se soumettre ou se démettre (“submit or resign”).[7]
The noun démission, borrowed from Latin dēmissiō, took its sense of resignation from se démettre.[3]
Timeline
- 1155 – First record of the pronominal use.[2][7]
- c. 1220 – The transitive demetre is recorded.[2][7]
- 14th century – Se demettre de son estat “to resign one's office” in Bersuire.[6]
- before 1407 – Deschamps uses it for removing someone from a post.[5]
- 1835 – The Académie records the legal sense “to dismiss (an appeal)”.[5][7]
Meanings
Verb
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g h 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ a b c d e f g h Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/2, 191b
- ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
- ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Démettre.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/d%C3%A9mettre. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.
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