Etymologically
Log in

durer

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:02. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /dy.ʁe/[1]

Forms

durer[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin dūrō (“to last; to endure; to harden”).[2][3][4][5][6][1] The Grand Robert and Littré derive the Latin verb from dūrus (“hard”) (see dur); Rey and Bloch and Wartburg think that “dūrāre” “to last” may have a separate source, the root of dūdum (“a while ago”) and dum, confused with “dūrāre” “to harden”, as the ideas of lasting and enduring something hard were close; in Latin they were no longer felt as different.[5][7][3][4]

Compare Old Occitan durar, Spanish durar and Italian durare.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has li mens quars tant duret, and the Chanson de Roland Icest hunte dureit al leur vivant “this shame would last as long as they lived”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Until the classical period it was also said of living beings: “to stay alive” (12th century), “to stay in place” (end of the 12th century, still in the 17th) and “to hold out, resist” (Jean Bodel, about 1196).[3][8] Some of these uses survive regionally in the north and west of France and in Burgundy (ne pas durer en place), and in African French durer means to stay, to live somewhere.[3] The present participle gave the preposition durant (16th century), from phrases like le mariage durant (13th century).[4][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Duret, Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • c. 1050 – Durable.[4]
  • 12th century – “To stay alive”.[3]
  • 12th century – Durée.[4]
  • c. 1196 – “To resist”, Jean Bodel.[8]
  • 16th century – Durant as a preposition.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To last, go on for (a time): le film dure deux heures, ça ne peut pas durer.[5][1]
  2. To last, endure, wear well: ces chaussures ont duré dix ans.[5][8]
  3. (regional) Ne pas durer en place: to be unable to keep still.[3]
  4. (African French) To stay, live (somewhere).[3]

Word family

  • durable
  • durée
  • durant
  • durablement

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d 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, 188a
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse