Etymologically
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donner

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɔ.ne/[1]

Forms

donner[1] Dunar in the Strasbourg Oaths (842); Old French doner (10th century); donner from the 13th century.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French doner, inherited from Latin dōnō (“to make a gift of, present”), a verb formed from dōnum (“gift”), itself from dō (“to give”).[3][4][5][6] In Late Latin “dōnāre”, with its regular and complete forms, competed with the classical “dare” and replaced it in Gallo-Romance, where “dare” left only traces; Italian dare survives beside donare, and Spanish dar beside donar.[4][7][3] In its turn “donner” competed with bailler, which it eliminated.[4][7]

Rey relates “dare” to an Indo-European root “*dō-” “to give”, found in Sanskrit ददामि (dádāmi, “I give”) and in Greek, and absent from Germanic and Celtic.[4] Cognate with Italian donare, Occitan donar, Catalan donar, Spanish donar and Portuguese doar.[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is one of the first words recorded in the Romance of Gaul, in the Strasbourg Oaths (842), in the sense “to grant, confer”: in quant Deus savir et podir me dunat “in so far as God gives me knowledge and power”.[4][3][10]

Semantic evolution

Most of its senses had developed before the 13th century.[4] “To make a present of” is found in the second half of the 10th century, with donner l'aumône about 1050, “to hand over, put at someone's disposal” (about 980), “to procure, grant” and “to give advice” (1050), and “to give one's word” (1080) followed.[3][4] With other complements it meant “to apply” (a kiss, about 980) and “to deal” (blows, 1080), and, moving away from the idea of a gift, “to pay” (1050), “to value at” (1130) and “to yield, bring in” (1160–1170).[4][3] Donner bataille (1080) has been replaced by livrer bataille.[4]

From “to indicate, inform” (about 1250) came the slang sense “to inform on, denounce to the police” (1828–1829), shared by donneur “informer” (1901).[4][3] Donner dans “to reach, run into” is recorded in the second half of the 16th century and figuratively in Montaigne (1580).[3] Card players have said donner “to deal” since at least 1627.[11]

Timeline

  • 842 – Dunat in the Strasbourg Oaths.[3][2]
  • 2nd half of the 10th century – “To give as a present”, in the Passion de Clermont.[3]
  • c. 1050 – Donner l'aumône in the Vie de saint Alexis.[3]
  • c. 1100 – “To deal (blows)” and donner bataille in the Chanson de Roland.[3]
  • 1269–1278 – Donner à entendre in Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose.[3]
  • 1580 – Donner dans in a figurative sense, in Montaigne.[3]
  • 1627 – “To deal (cards)”.[11]
  • 1829 – Slang “to inform on to the police”.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To give, make a present of: donner des jouets à ses enfants; to donate.[2][1]
  2. To hand over, pass: Donne-moi le sel.[12][3]
  3. To grant, provide: donner la permission, donner un conseil.[3][4]
  4. To deal, apply: donner un coup, donner un baiser.[3][4]
  5. To Yield, produce: Cet arbre donne beaucoup de fruits.[4][10]
  6. To put on, hold: donner une fête, donner un concert.[3][2]
  7. To cause: donner faim, donner du souci.[3][4]
  8. (slang) To inform on, denounce to the police.[3][4]
  9. (card games) To deal.[11]
  10. Donner sur: to look onto, open onto: une fenêtre qui donne sur la cour.[13][1]

Word family

  • donne
  • donneur
  • adonner
  • maldonne
  • redonner
  • donnée
  • don
  • donation
  • Latin dōnō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t 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
  4. ^ 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
  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, 136a
  7. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  11. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  13. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)