faire

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fɛʁ/^[1]
• IPA (Quebec): /fæɪ̯ʁ/^[1]

Forms

faire^[1] First recorded as the subjunctive fazet (842); the infinitive faire in the 10th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French faire, inherited from Latin faciō (“to make, to do”).^[4][5][2][6] The preterite stem “fi-” (“je fis”) comes from the Latin perfect fēcī, with a raising of the vowel.^[1] At first the Latin verb meant “to place, to put”, and was used in religion, as in “sacrum facere” “to place an offering (on the altar)”; when pōnō took over the sense “to place”, “facere” came to mean “to cause, to work, to produce by art”.^[3]

It goes back to an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, set”), like Ancient Greek τίθημι (títhēmi), German tun and English do.^[3][7][8] Cognate with Italian fare, Occitan faire, Catalan fer, Spanish hacer, Portuguese fazer and Romanian face.^[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first recorded use, in the Strasbourg Oaths (842), is as a substitute for a verb of action already expressed: in o quid il mi altresi fazet “provided that he does the same for me”.^[4][3] With an infinitive, “to cause to”, it is found in the Sequence of Saint Eulalia (about 880): voldrent la faire diaule servir “they wanted to make her serve the devil”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In the 10th century the verb had its general sense “to carry out, to be the agent of (an activity)”.^[3][4] From “to accomplish” came many phrases, some old: faire tant que (mid-11th century), ne faire que + infinitive (about 1190).^[3][4] It meant “to give a quality to someone” in the late 10th century and “to make (something) so” in 1080 (nus les feruns vermeilles “we shall make them red”).^[4][3] About 1170 it was used for “to say”, as in the modern fit-il in reported speech.^[4]

The infinitive is used as a noun, le faire, for an artist's manner of working, from the 18th century.^[7] The verb has a large family: défaire and forfaire (about 1080), bienfait (about 1125), affaire (12th century, masculine until the 16th century) and faisable (about 1350).^[6]

Timeline

• 842 – Fazet in the Strasbourg Oaths.^[4]
• c. 880 – Faire + infinitive, “to cause to”.^[4]
• 2nd half of 10th century – “To carry out an action”.^[4]
• 1080 – “To make (something) so” in the Chanson de Roland.^[4][3]
• c. 1170 – “To say”.^[4]
• c. 1190 – Ne faire que + infinitive.^[4]
• 18th century – Le faire, an artist's manner.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make: to produce, build or create.^[1][4]
2. To do: to carry out an action or activity: faire du sport.^[1][4]
3. With an infinitive: to make, to have (someone do something): faire rire, faire construire.^[1][4]
4. To act like, to play: faire l'idiot.^[1]
5. To say (in reported speech): « Oui », fit-il.^[1][4]
6. (impersonal) To be (of the weather): il fait beau.^[1]
7. To measure, to cost, to amount to: deux et deux font quatre.^[9]
8. Stands for another verb already used: comme je fais.^[9][4]
9. Se faire: to become; to get used to (se faire à); (of fruit, cheese) to ripen.^[1]

Noun

1. (arts) An artist's or writer's manner, technique.^[7]
2. Doing, action: il y a loin du dire au faire.^[7]

Word family

• fait-tout
• faisable
• faiseur
• affaire
• défaire
• refaire
• bienfaisant
• bienfaisance
• bienfait
• forfaire
• forfait

Related words

• facile
• façon
• facture
• fait
• Latin faciō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 346b
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse