Etymologically
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envahir

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Pronunciation

  • /ɑ̃.va.iʁ/[1]

Forms

envahir[1] Old French envaïr; the spelling with ⟨h⟩ dates from the 16th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French envaïr, inherited from Vulgar Latin *invādiō, an alteration of Latin invādō (“to go into; to assail, attack”).[2][4][5][6] The Latin verb is formed from in- and vādō (“to go, advance”), whose stem Rey relates to the forms ⟨vais⟩, ⟨va⟩ of French aller.[4][7]

Compare Old Occitan envazir and Spanish invadir, also formed as if from ⟨*invadire⟩.[5][8] It is related to the learned invasion and to s'évader.[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) it means “to march on, attack”: Tout par seit fel ki nes vait envaïr “may he who does not go to attack them be counted a traitor”.[2][8][4]

Semantic evolution

In Old French it also meant “to undertake” (12th century), whence soi envaïr de “to commit oneself to” (about 1350), a use lost in the Renaissance, and in the 15th century “to persecute”.[4] The modern sense, to enter a territory by force in order to occupy it, is found in 1570 in Carloix's memoirs.[2][4]

Théophile Gautier uses it in 1835 for things or people that take up room abusively.[4][9] In the classical period it meant “to usurp” a property (1614) or a dignity (1665), a sense still recorded in the 19th century but archaic from the 18th.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Envaïr “to attack” in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • c. 1180 – The derivative envaissement “attack”.[4]
  • c. 1350 – Soi envaïr de “to commit oneself to”.[4]
  • 1570 – “To invade (a territory)”, in Carloix.[2]
  • 1614 – “To usurp (a property)”.[4]
  • 1835 – Gautier uses it for spreading abusively.[4][9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To invade, enter and occupy a territory by force: envahir un pays.[9][1]
  2. To spread over or take over something abusively: la publicité envahit nos écrans.[9][3]
  3. Of animals, plants or things, to spread in great numbers over a place, overrun it: les ronces ont envahi le jardin.[9][8]
  4. Of a feeling or sensation, to come over someone: la peur l'envahit.[1][3]

Word family

  • envahissement
  • envahisseur
  • envahissable
  • envahissant
  • invasion
  • évader

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 786a
  7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert