demander

Pronunciation

• IPA: /də.mɑ̃.de/^[1]

Forms

demander^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French demander, inherited from Latin dēmandō (“to entrust, charge with; to order”), formed with dē- from mandō (“to give in charge, entrust”).^[2][3][4][5] In Late Latin it also meant “to summon” and probably “to ask”, the sense it has in most Romance languages.^[2][3][6] In the sense “to ask in order to know” it ousted Latin interrogō, which survives only in Romanian întreba and Old French enterver (whence the slang entraver), and in the sense “to ask in order to get” it replaced petō.^[3][7]

Cognate with Italian domandare, Old Occitan demandar, Catalan demanar, Spanish demandar and Portuguese demandar.^[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Passion de Clermont (late 10th century), both in the sense “to express the wish to have” and in the sense “to inquire, ask (a question)”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Used absolutely, it meant “to solicit” by 1172–1174.^[2][3] Old French also took from Latin the sense “to order, require” (late 12th century), and with an abstract subject “to call for, make necessary” (late 13th century), as in la situation demande….^[3][2] The reflexive se demander si “to wonder whether” appears about 1500, ne demander que “to want nothing more than” in 1547, and the familiar je vous le demande, expressing surprise, in 1812.^[3][2]

The noun demande (1170) took its economic sense, as opposed to offre, in 1778, in a translation of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, after English demand.^[3]

Timeline

• Late 10th century – Demander in the Passion de Clermont.^[2]
• 1170 – The noun demande.^[3]
• 1172–1174 – Absolute use, “to solicit”, in Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence.^[2]
• Late 12th century – “To order, require”, in Jean Bodel.^[2]
• Late 13th century – “To make necessary”.^[2]
• c. 1500 – Se demander.^[3][2]
• 1547 – Ne demander que in Noël du Fail.^[2]
• 1778 – Demande as the economic opposite of offre.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To ask for, request: demander la parole, demander une faveur.^[9][10]
2. To ask (a question), inquire: Je lui ai demandé l'heure.^[11][1]
3. To ask for someone, want to see them: On vous demande au téléphone.^[12][11]
4. To require, need: Ce travail demande du temps.^[3][2]
5. To ask (a price): Combien demandez-vous ?^[9]
6. Se demander: to wonder.^[1][3]
7. Ne demander qu'à, ne pas demander mieux: to be quite willing to.^[3][8]

Word family

• demande
• demandeur
• redemander
• codemandeur

Related words

• commander
• mander
• poser
• Latin dēmandō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 l m n o 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. 3, 36a
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
12. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse