désirer

Pronunciation

• IPA: /de.zi.ʁe/^[1]

Forms

désirer^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin dēsīderō (“to miss, feel the lack of; to long for”), reduced in sound.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The Latin verb is formed with the privative dē- on sīdus (“star, constellation”) (whence sidéral), probably on the model of cōnsīderō (see considérer); Rey reads it literally as “to stop gazing at the star”, hence “to note the absence of”, with a strong sense of regret.^[3][7] The forward-looking sense “to seek to obtain, wish for”, already usual in Latin, is the one that passed into French.^[3]

Cognate with Italian desiderare, Occitan desirar, Catalan desitjar, Spanish desear and Portuguese desejar.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has it in the sense “to long for”: Sire Alexis, tans jurs t'ai desirret “Lord Alexis, I have longed for you so many days”.^[2][8]

Semantic evolution

In courtly contexts it was specialized for desiring a woman's favours, a use more marked still in the noun désir (about 1160).^[3] Two adjectives appear as early as the 11th century: désirable, first active “desiring” before it gave that sense to désireux and kept the passive “desired” (before 1150).^[3] The GLLF dates its further senses to Adenet (1273), the Vidame de Chartres (late 12th century) and Marguerite de Navarre (before 1549).^[9] Indésirable (1801) was used as a noun in the 20th century after English undesirable (1905).^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – “To long for”, Vie de saint Alexis.^[2]
• c. 1050 – The adjective desirreuse.^[3]
• Before 1150 – désirable “desired”.^[3]
• c. 1160 – The noun désir.^[3]
• 1801 – Indésirable.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To desire, wish for, want: désirer la fortune, que désirez-vous ?, what would you like?^[7][9]
2. Désirer que (with the subjunctive): to wish that, (classical, literary) désirer de with an infinitive.^[9]
3. To desire (someone) sexually.^[7][3]
4. Laisser à désirer: to be unsatisfactory, se faire désirer, to keep people waiting.^[7]

Word family

• désir
• désirable
• désireux
• indésirable

Related words

• considérer
• sidéral
• desiderata

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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 k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 53a
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse