Etymologically
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enfermer

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɑ̃.fɛʁ.me/[1]

Forms

enfermer[1] Old French enfermer, anfermer, also enfremer.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from French en- + fermer.[2][4][5][1][6] The verb fermer continues Latin firmō (“to make firm, strengthen”), from firmus (“firm”); it meant “to make firm, fortify” before “to close”, a sense that appears in the 12th century.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Marie de France's Lais (about 1170) has it in the sense “to put in a completely closed place”: En un cofre les anfermat “she shut them in a chest”.[2]

Semantic evolution

The idea is the removal of any way out: one shuts a person in to stop them leaving, or a thing to put it away, or one surrounds a piece of ground with hedges or walls (1538).[8][2] From this came “to surround (an enemy)” (Corneille, 1640), now obsolete, and “to contain, include” (Corneille, 1635).[2][8] Thomas Corneille (1656) uses it without object for locking someone up as mad.[2] The figurative use is recorded in 1851 and the reflexive s'enfermer dans le silence before 1778; in a race, enfermer a rival (1910) is to box him in.[8][9]

Timeline

  • c. 1170 – “To shut in”, Marie de France.[2]
  • 1538 – “To enclose (land)”, Robert Estienne.[2]
  • 1549 – The derivative enfermement.[8]
  • 1635 – “To contain”, Corneille.[2]
  • 1640 – “To surround”, Corneille.[2]
  • 1656 – “To shut up in an asylum”.[2]
  • 1910 – In racing, “to box in”.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To shut in, lock up (a person or animal): enfermer un oiseau dans une cage; to imprison; to commit (to an asylum).[5][1]
  2. To put away (a thing) in a closed place: enfermer des papiers dans un tiroir.[9][5]
  3. (literary) To enclose, surround; to contain.[1][2]
  4. (sport) To box in (a competitor).[8][9]
  5. S'enfermer: to shut oneself in, (figurative) to retreat into: s'enfermer dans le silence.[5][8]

Word family

  • enfermement
  • renfermer
  • renfermé

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 574a
  7. ^ 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse