expectation

Forms

expectation f^[1][2] Middle French expectacion.^[3] Anglo-Norman expectacioun.^[4] Godefroy lists the older spelling espectation.^[4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin exspectātiō (“awaiting, expectation”).^[1][5][6][7] The Latin noun is formed on the supine of exspectō (“to look out for, await”), from ex- and spectō (“to look at, observe”), a frequentative of speciō (“to see, look at”).^[5] Rey connects this verb with an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *spek- (“to observe”), also behind the Germanic word that gave épier¹.^[5] Littré compares Old Occitan espectacio.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in Pierre Bersuire's translation of Livy, before 1380 according to the TLFi and about 1355 according to Rey and the Grand Robert, in the sense of waiting for something that may happen.^[1][5][6][7] Anglo-Norman already has expectation in the first half of the 14th century, meaning expectation or hope.^[4] About 1370 Oresme writes that philosophers define fear as expectacion ou supposement de mal avenir (“expectation or supposition of evil to come”).^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

The general sense of waiting became literary and rare; the GLLF says it was already old-fashioned in the 17th century.^[5][7] In Anglo-Norman it also named the papal appointment of a cleric to a benefice before it fell vacant.^[4] In medicine, from 1814 (Nysten), it named the practice of withholding treatment while the signs of a disease remain unclear.^[1][5][8] That use has disappeared, and since the mid-20th century the word has been used in psychology for what a person or group expects, probably under the influence of the English word, a parallel borrowing from Latin that remained common.^[5][1]

English expectation (1530s) is from the French word or directly from Latin, according to Etymonline.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1355 – Bersuire uses it in his translation of Livy.^[5][6][7]
• c. 1370 – Oresme uses expectacion in his Ethics.^[3][8]
• 1488 – The date the Petit Robert gives.^[2]
• 1814 – Nysten records the medical sense.^[1][5]
• Mid-20th century – A sense in psychology appears, under English influence.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary, dated) expectation, the waiting for something or someone that may come.^[1][2][8]
2. (medicine, dated) The practice of watching the course of a disease and not treating it actively until its symptoms are clear.^[2][7][8]
3. (psychology) What a person or group expects as a response or result.^[1][5]

Related words

• expectant
• expectative
• Latin exspectātiō
• English expectation

References

1. ^ 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
2. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
4. ^ a b c d Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com