Etymologically
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désigner

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /de.zi.ɲe/[1]

Forms

désigner[1] Desiner, desinner (13th–14th century), rare before the 16th century, Littré notes that ⟨s⟩ was still unvoiced in 1703.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēsignō (“to mark out; to point out; to appoint”),[5][6][7][8] formed with dē- on signō (“to mark with a sign”), from signum (“sign”).[6][2] The Latin verb also meant “to represent, draw”, the source of the doublet dessiner.[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A text of about 1265 has les jours desinez de l'Eglise, the days appointed by the Church;[9][3] Oresme (1377) has chose designee par nombre, “determined by a distinctive mark”.[5][9]

Semantic evolution

Lemaire de Belges (1511) and Rabelais (1534, 1539) use it for “to represent, symbolise”, as when Rabelais tells what each colour designe.[9][5][4] In the 16th century it was also used for “to plan, draw out” (Amyot, Palissy, d'Aubigné), senses that went to dessiner.[4] The sense “to appoint (someone) to an office” is recorded by Furetière in 1690,[5][6] and désigner qqn à la haine publique “to hold someone up to” appears in La Bruyère.[5][3]

In linguistics désignation is the relation between a sign and the thing it refers to.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1265 – Jours desinez.[9]
  • 1355 – Desinacion.[6]
  • 1377 – Designee par nombre in Oresme.[5]
  • 1539 – “To symbolise” in Rabelais.[5]
  • 1690 – “To appoint”, in Furetière.[5]
  • Before 1696 – “To single out” in La Bruyère.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To point out, indicate: désigner du doigt.[3][10]
  2. To designate, denote; to name or refer to: ce mot désigne une plante.[3][1]
  3. To appoint, choose (someone for a task or office): désigner un successeur.[3][4]
  4. Désigner qqn à: to single out (for attention, blame): désigner qqn à la vindicte publique.[3]

Word family

  • désignation
  • dessiner
  • signe
  • signer
  • Latin dēsignō
  • English designate

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
  6. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 53b
  9. ^ a b c d Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)