déporter

Forms

déporter^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French deporter, inherited from Latin dēportō (“to carry away, to banish”), formed from dē- and portō (“to carry”).^[2][3][4][5] In Late Latin the verb must also have meant “to amuse”, as Italian diportarsi, Spanish deportarse and Old Occitan deportar show.^[2][3][6] Bloch and Wartburg and Wiktionary treat the modern sense “to banish” as a separate, learned borrowing of the Latin verb, beside the inherited Old French verb.^[6][1]

The Old French derivative desport passed into English and gave sport.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the mid-12th century in the Charroi de Nîmes, as reflexive se deporter “to amuse oneself, relax”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Old French se déporter also meant “to behave” and “to abstain, give up” (about 1180), and the transitive verb meant “to drive away” boredom.^[2][3] These senses were common until the 16th century but went out of use in the 17th, except “to withdraw” in law: a judge who se déporte recuses himself.^[3][7]

The modern sense “to exile as a punishment” is found in 1495 but stayed rare until 1791, when deportation became a penalty for all of France.^[2][6][3] Since the Second World War it has above all meant to send someone to a concentration camp (about 1942).^[3][7] From the early 20th century it also means to push a vehicle or moving body off its course.^[7][8] English deport “to behave” was borrowed from the Old French verb in the late 15th century.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1150 – Se deporter “to amuse oneself” in the Charroi de Nîmes.^[2]
• c. 1180 – “To abstain” in Thomas's Tristan.^[2]
• Late 13th century – “To drive away” boredom.^[2]
• 1495 – “To exile” as a punishment.^[2][6]
• 1791 – Deportation becomes a penalty throughout France and the verb comes into general use.^[3][6]
• c. 1942 – “To send to a concentration camp”.^[3][7]
• Early 20th century – “To push off course”.^[7][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To deport, to banish: to send a person out of the country as a punishment.^[7][2]
2. To send to a concentration camp.^[7][1]
3. To push a vehicle or a moving body off its course: le vent a déporté le camion.^[7][1]
4. (reflexive, of a vehicle) To swerve.^[1]
5. (reflexive, law) Of a judge, to recuse oneself.^[7][10]

Word family

• déport
• déporté

Related words

• déportation
• porter¹
• sport
• Latin dēportō

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 i j 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. ^ 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. 9, 220b
6. ^ a b c d e f 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette