dépasser

Pronunciation

• IPA: /de.pa.se/^[1]
• IPA: /de.pɑ.se/^[1]

Forms

dépasser^[1]

Etymology

It is from French dé- + passer, with the prefix expressing intensity.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} It was first formed on the simple verb in its old sense “to walk”, then on its sense “to go past”.^[2][3] passer continues Vulgar Latin *passāre, from passus (“step”) (see pas).^[6] Littré points out that in the sense “to pull out (a ribbon)” the prefix instead expresses the reverse action.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Sermons de saint Grégoire sur Ézéchiel (second half of the 12th century) use it for passing over something, trampling it underfoot.^[2][3] The GLLF dates its first sense to Wace (about 1155).^[8]

Semantic evolution

Its development favoured the idea of going beyond, and dropped a 14th-century sense “to move back”.^[3] The moral sense “to go beyond what is established, transgress” is found in a gloss of Alexander Neckam (13th–14th century), later reinforced by dépasser les bornes (Maine de Biran, 1803); the temporal sense, going beyond a point in time, appears in an interpolation of the Roman de Fauvel (1316).^[2][3] At sea it was used of a ship that goes past the place where it meant to anchor (Ozanam, 1691).^[2]

Madame de Staël (1794) has “to exceed in importance”, bringing it close to surpasser.^[2][3] In the 19th century it came to mean “to stick out, extend beyond” (Michelet, 1822, dépasser quelqu'un de toute la tête, Brillat-Savarin, 1825, pas un cheveu ne dépassait l'autre, Stendhal, 1830); dépassé par les événements is in Chateaubriand (1848), and the reflexive se dépasser “to surpass oneself” in Erckmann-Chatrian (1864).^[2][3]

Timeline

• Second half of the 12th century – “To pass over, trample”.^[2]
• 13th–14th century – “To transgress”, Alexander Neckam.^[2]
• 1316 – Of a point in time, Roman de Fauvel.^[2]
• 1691 – Nautical sense, Ozanam.^[2]
• 1794 – “To exceed in importance”, Madame de Staël.^[2]
• 1803 – Dépasser les bornes, Maine de Biran.^[2]
• 1822 – “To stick out”, Michelet.^[2]
• 1848 – Dépassé par les événements, Chateaubriand.^[2]
• 1864 – Se dépasser, Erckmann-Chatrian.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To overtake, pass: dépasser un cycliste, (absolute) interdit de dépasser.^[9][1]
2. To go past, beyond (a point): dépasser l'endroit où il fallait s'arrêter.^[9][8]
3. To exceed, be longer, taller or greater than: dépasser quelqu'un de la tête, dépasser les prévisions.^[9][1]
4. (intransitive) To stick out, show: son jupon dépasse.^[2][3]
5. To surpass, outdo; to go beyond (limits): dépasser les bornes.^[2][1]
6. To be beyond (someone's understanding): cela me dépasse, être dépassé par les événements.^[2][9]
7. Se dépasser: to surpass oneself.^[2][3]

Word family

• dépassé
• dépassement
• indépassable

Related words

• passer
• surpasser
• pas

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 j k l m n o p q r s t 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 h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 718b
6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert