Etymologically
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dormir

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dɔʁ.miʁ/[1]

Forms

dormir[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French dormir, inherited from Latin dormiō (“to sleep”).[2][3][4][5][1] Rey traces the Latin verb to a root “*der-” known only in extended forms in other Indo-European languages, as in Ancient Greek δαρθάνω (darthánō, “to sleep”), Wiktionary gives Proto-Indo-European *drem- (“to sleep”).[3][1] Another root of related meaning survives in Latin somnus (“sleep”) (see somme) and sōpiō (“to put to sleep”).[3] The present “je dors, tu dors, il dort” follows the Latin “dórmiō, dórmis, dórmit”, stressed on the root.[6]

Cognate with Italian dormire, Occitan dormir and Spanish dormir.[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100), often reflexive as other intransitive verbs were in Old French: Charles se dort, li empereres riches “Charles sleeps, the mighty emperor”, or se dorment li Franc “now the Franks sleep”.[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Figuratively it meant “to stay idle” from 1409 (the chronicle of Boucicaut) and, of nature, “to lie still” from Ronsard (1559: les bois dorment sans bruit); still water too was said to sleep, whence eau dormante (1112).[2][3] The present participle dormant also qualified a fixed object (1366), as the standing part of a rope at sea (1678).[3]

Furetière's dictionary (1690) gathers many proverbs and phrases, such as dormir debout, qui dort dîne and comparisons like dormir comme un loir, ne dormir que d'un œil expands an older ne dormir de l'œil.[3] La Belle au bois dormant is the title of Perrault's tale.[8]

Timeline

  • 1112 – Eau dormante.[3]
  • c. 1100 – Dormir in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • 14th century – The noun dormeur.[4]
  • 1409 – “To stay idle”, in the chronicle of Boucicaut.[2]
  • 1559 – Ronsard writes that the woods sleep.[2]
  • 1690 – Furetière records dormir debout and qui dort dîne.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To sleep, be asleep: dormir comme un loir, dormir à poings fermés.[8][7]
  2. To spend the night, lodge: dormir à l'hôtel.[8]
  3. (figurative) To be idle or inactive: laisser dormir une affaire.[2][7]
  4. (literary) Of things, to be still or quiet: l'eau dort.[2][3]
  5. Dormir debout: to be dropping with sleep, une histoire à dormir debout, an unbelievable story.[3][8]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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 i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c 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, 140a
  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 d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert