ennuyer

Forms

ennuyer^[1] Old French enuier, anuier, enoier, ennuyer from the 13th century.^[2][3] The ⟨uy⟩ spreads from the stressed forms (il ennuie), as in appuyer.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French enoier, inherited from Late Latin inodiāre (“to be hateful”),^{[4][5][6][3][7][1]} formed on the classical phrase in odiō esse (“to be an object of hatred”), in which the second word is the ablative of odium (“hatred”) (see odieux).^[4][5][2]

Cognate with Italian annoiare and Old Occitan enojar, whence Spanish enojar.^[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has the past participle in the sense “worn out with fatigue”: Nos cheval sont et las et ennuiez “our horses are weary and spent”.^[4][5][8]

Semantic evolution

As in Latin, the verb had the strong sense “to torment, be unbearable”, first impersonally (Couronnement de Louis, about 1135); that sense dominated until the classical period, with s'ennuyer “to worry” after 1530.^[4][5][6] Malherbe could still write extrêmement ennuyés de la perte of the grief caused by a friend's death.^[2] The weakened modern sense “to be tiresome” appears in the 12th century but prevailed only after the 17th, with il m'ennuie de (15th century).^[5]

S'ennuyer meant “to feel disgust for” (Benoît de Sainte-Maure, about 1175), then, weakened, “to grow weary” and “to be bored”.^[4][5] The noun ennui (about 1120) followed a parallel course, from “deep sorrow, torment”, still its sense in Racine, to boredom and vague melancholy (1658).^[5][6]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Ennuiez “exhausted”, Chanson de Roland.^[4]
• c. 1120 – The noun ennui.^[5]
• c. 1135 – Impersonal “to torment”, Couronnement de Louis.^[4]
• c. 1175 – S'ennuyer “to feel disgust”, Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^[4]
• 15th century – Il m'ennuie de.^[5]
• After 1530 – S'ennuyer “to worry”.^[5]
• c. 1400 – désennuyer, Guillaume de Machaut.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To worry, trouble, put out: ça m'ennuie, cela vous ennuierait-il d'attendre ?, would you mind waiting?^[9][1]
2. To annoy, bother, pester.^[9][1]
3. To bore: ce film m'ennuie.^[1][9]
4. S'ennuyer: to be bored, s'ennuyer de quelqu'un, to miss someone.^[1][9]
5. (classical) To torment, grieve.^[2][5]

Word family

• ennui
• ennuyeux
• ennuyant
• désennuyer

Related words

• odieux
• English annoy

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 701b
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert