déplorer

Forms

déplorer^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēplōrō (“to weep, lament”), recorded from the first half of the 12th century.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb, which also meant “to give up, despair of”, is formed with intensive dē- and plōrō (“to weep”), the source of pleurer.^[3][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century) has e les lur vedves n'esteient deploredes (“and their widows were not wept for”), translating Latin viduae eorum non plorabantur.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Until the 17th century the verb chiefly meant “to weep over someone”;^[3][4] this sense faded before the more abstract and psychological “to regret”, recorded from about 1200.^[3][2] In the 16th and 17th centuries the past participle déploré often meant “hopeless, past remedy”, after Latin deploratus.^[3][4]

Its derivative déplorable (late 15th century), first “pitiable”, took the pejorative sense “very poor or bad” in 1803 and drifted away from the verb.^[3]

Timeline

• 1100–1150 – Deploredes “wept for” in the Oxford Psalter.^[2]
• c. 1200 – Deploranz lo malisce des freres in the Dialogue Grégoire, with the sense “to deplore”.^[2][3]
• late 15th century – The derivative déplorable appears.^[3][4]
• 1496–1499 – Déploration is borrowed from Latin.^[3]
• 17th century – The sense “to weep over someone” fades.^[3][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (literary) To lament, to weep over or grieve for someone or something: déplorer la mort d'un ami.^[7][2]
2. To deplore, to regret deeply: nous déplorons cette décision.^[7][1]
3. To have to report (deaths or victims) with regret, after an accident or disaster.^[7]

Word family

• déplorable

Related words

• déploration
• pleurer
• Latin dēplōrō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert