Etymologically
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désirer

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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

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