dénuer

Forms

dénuer^[1] Old French denuer and desnuer.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French desnuer, inherited from Latin dēnūdō (“to lay bare”), altered in the 9th century to disnudare by a change of prefix, which gave the Old French type with ⟨des-⟩.^[2][3][1] The Latin verb is formed from dē- and nūdō (“to bare”), from nūdus (“naked”).^[5][6][4] The learned dénuder is a doublet from the same Latin verb;^[4][1][7] Littré notes that the inherited verb shows the reshaping of the Latin word by popular speech, while the learned one copies it.^[4][1][7]

Cognate with Occitan desnudar, Spanish desnudar and Italian disnudare.^[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as denuer in the Cambridge Psalter (first half of the 12th century), meaning to lay bare: Tu … denuas le fundement, translating Latin denudasti fundamentum.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Until the 16th century the verb mostly meant “to lay bare”, as of stripping a person of clothes or armour, and Cotgrave's edition of 1660 still records it.^[3][6][7] The figurative sense “to strip of all goods, deprive” is found in Hélinand's Vers de la Mort (1194–1197) and spread, mainly through the passive être dénué de and the participle dénué “lacking”, recorded in Oresme in 1370.^[2][3] The reflexive se dénuer “to go without” is in the Académie's dictionary of 1694.^[7]

Today the active verb is hardly used; the reflexive and the adjective dénué are what remain.^[7][8]

Timeline

• First half of the 12th century – Denuer “to lay bare” in the Cambridge Psalter.^[2]
• 1194–1197 – Hélinand uses desnuer for stripping someone of all goods.^[2][3]
• 1370 – The participle desnué de “lacking” appears in Oresme.^[2][3]
• 1374 – The noun desnuement is recorded.^[3]
• 1636 – Monet records the modern sense “to deprive”.^[7]
• 1694 – The Académie records se dénuer.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (literary) To deprive someone of what is needed, to strip.^[2][9][4]
2. (reflexive, literary) Se dénuer: to go without, to give everything up: Elle s'est dénuée de tout pour ses petits-enfants.^[8][4][7]

Word family

• dénuement

Related words

• dénuder
• nu
• Latin dēnūdō

Usage notes

The active verb is now rare; the usual forms are se dénuer and the adjective dénué de “lacking, devoid of”.^[7][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)