dompter

Forms

dompter^[1] Old French danter (1155) and donter (about 1160); dompter from the 14th century.^[2][3] The Académie still wrote domter in 1718.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French donter, inherited from Latin domitō (“to tame”),^[2][5][4] the frequentative of domō (“to tame, subdue”).^[3][6][7] Bloch and Wartburg note that the frequentative took hold only in Gallo-Romance, while the simple verb survives in Italian domare and Spanish domar;^[4] Old Occitan had domdar.^[4]

The ⟨p⟩ appeared in the 14th century, either after compter or after Latin spellings such as dampnare and temptare beside damnare and tentare.^[2][3][4] The pronunciation without /p/ is therefore the etymological one, and Littré called sounding it a mistake; the /p/ has nevertheless spread into speech.^[3][6] The Old French form danter reflects a passing tendency to change /on/ into /an/.^[6]

Rey traces the Latin verb to an Indo-European root also seen in Ancient Greek δαμάζω (damázō), and notes Benveniste's view that it is not related to domus (“house”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as danter in Wace's Brut (1155), meaning “to tame, subdue”.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

From Old French on the verb was used both of animals and figuratively, of passions, especially in the language of love.^[3] Its political sense “to subjugate a people” was common in classical French but has gone out of use.^[3] The derivative dompteur first meant a conqueror of countries or peoples and took its modern sense, an animal tamer, around the middle of the 19th century.^[3] In Quebec dompter is used where France also says dresser.^[3]

Timeline

• 1155 – Danter appears in Wace's Brut.^[2]
• c. 1160 – Donter appears in the Roman d'Eneas.^[2]
• 1213 – The derivative dompteur is recorded.^[4]
• 14th century – Bersuire writes dompter.^[2][7]
• 1420 – The derivative indomptable is recorded.^[4][3]
• 1718 – The Académie still writes domter.^[3]
• 1860 – The noun domptage is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To tame a wild or dangerous animal, to break in: dompter un étalon.^[8][9][1]
2. To subdue, bring under one's authority: dompter une révolte.^[8][10]
3. (literary) To master natural forces, or one's own feelings: dompter sa peur.^[8][10][1]

Word family

• dompteur
• domptage
• domptable
• indomptable
• indompté

Related words

• Latin domitō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 132a
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)