désintéresser

Forms

désintéresser^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French dés- + intéresser.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} Rey notes that it reflects both main values of the base verb, the financial one (“to give a share in a profit”) and the psychological one (“to arouse interest”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is in Robert Estienne's Latin–French dictionary of 1552, which renders Latin praestare aliquem indemnem as le desdommager et rendre indemne, le désintéresser: to indemnify someone.^[2] The Grand Robert and the GLLF date the word to the same year but credit it to Rabelais.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was financial and legal: to put someone out of an affair by paying them what they were owed, as in désintéresser ses créanciers.^[2][6][7] The pronominal se désintéresser de “to stop taking an interest in” is recorded from the end of the 17th century and became the commonest use;^[6][4][7] classical French also had se désintéresser sur, “to pay no heed to”, used by La Bruyère.^[4]

The past participle désintéressé was first used of someone indifferent, then from 1665 of someone who acts without regard to personal, especially financial, gain;^[6] the TLFi finds it in Pascal's Pensées before 1662.^[2]

Timeline

• 1552 – First record, in R. Estienne's Dictionarium Latinogallicum, in the sense “indemnify”.^[2]
• Before 1662 – Pascal uses désintéressé “free of self-interest”.^[2]
• 1649 – Désintéressement is attested in Retz.^[6]
• 1688 – The pronominal se désintéresser appears in La Bruyère.^[4]
• 1690 – Se désintéresser de “to lose interest in” is recorded.^[6][7]
• 1830 – Désintérêt is formed from se désintéresser after intérêt.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To pay off or compensate someone so that they no longer have a stake in an affair: désintéresser ses créanciers “to pay off one's creditors”.^[2][7][4]
2. (rare) To turn someone away from their interest in something.^[2][6]
3. Se désintéresser de: to lose interest in, cease to care about someone or something: il se désintéresse de ses études.^[7][4][1]

Word family

• désintéressé
• désintéressement

Related words

• intéresser
• intérêt
• désintérêt

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 753b
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert