diverger

Forms

diverger^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin dīvergō (“to incline, lean”), used as the opposite of converger.^[2][1][3] The GLLF calls the source modern scientific Latin.^[4] The Latin verb is formed with dis- (“apart”) on vergō (“to be turned towards, incline”), a verb of classical Latin but little used, which survives in Romance only through its compounds.^[3][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bloch and Wartburg, the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert date it to 1720.^[7][5][8] The first record the TLFi gives is Rousseau's in 1785, in music: les accords divergent, of chords that spread as far apart as possible.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In physics the verb is recorded from 1788, its use there going with that of divergence (1671) and divergent (1626), borrowed earlier from the scientific Latin of Kepler.^[2][3] The figurative sense “to disagree, to differ” developed at the end of the 18th century: the Petit Robert dates it to 1798 and the TLFi and DHLF to Lamartine in 1830.^[7][8][2][3] In the mid-20th century nuclear physics used it of a reactor going critical.^[8][4]

Timeline

• 1720 – First record according to Bloch and Wartburg.^[7][5]
• 1785 – Rousseau uses it of chords in music.^[2][3]
• 1788 – Used in physics.^[2][3]
• 1798 – The sense “to disagree”, according to the Petit Robert and the GLLF.^[8][4]
• 1830 – Lamartine uses it figuratively.^[2][3]
• mid-20th century – A term of nuclear physics.^[8][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To diverge, to move further and further apart from a common point: les deux sentiers divergent après le pont.^[8][9][2]
2. (figurative) To differ, to be in disagreement: nos avis divergent sur la question.^[8][4][6]
3. (nuclear physics) Of a reactor, to go critical.^[8][4]

Related words

• divergent
• divergence
• converger
• Latin vergō

References

1. ^ a b c 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 c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)