fléchir

Forms

fléchir^[1] Old French flechier (about 1160), before the change of conjugation.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French flechir, inherited from Vulgar Latin *flecticō (“to bend”), a frequentative of Latin flectō (“to bend, bow, move”).^[2][1][3][5] The Old French verb first had the form flechier (about 1160, in the Roman d'Eneas), and the present form arose from it by a change of conjugation.^[2][3][4] Littré, following Diez, still derived it straight from the classical verb, with ⟨ct⟩ becoming ⟨ch⟩, which he called rare in French; he also noted that forms such as flechissant point to a stem in ⟨-iscere⟩.^[6]

Littré compares Picard flékir and Old Occitan flechir.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1175 it is used intransitively for “to bend, give way” in the Roman de Horn, and transitively for “to make (a person) yield” in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^[2] A 12th-century life of Thomas Becket has Ne pur mort de justise ne me verrez flechir (“not even for death by sentence will you see me give way”).^[6]

Semantic evolution

The verb kept both the literal and the figurative senses of the Latin.^[3] From about 1190 it meant “to stop resisting”, also as fléchir à, which survived into the classical period.^[3] The transitive sense “to bend” is found in the 13th-century Roman de Renart, and fléchir le genou before 1526 in Jean Marot.^[7][6] From 1580 it also meant “to decrease in strength or value”.^[3] In the 20th century it was used in grammar for “to inflect”, a sense kept by the adjective fléchi (1916).^[3]

Its derivatives are fléchissement (1314, as flecissement), used literally and figuratively, and the anatomical fléchisseur (1575), a muscle that bends a limb.^[3][4]

Timeline

• c. 1160 – The older form flechier appears in the Roman d'Eneas.^[2]
• c. 1175 – Fléchir “to give way” appears in the Roman de Horn.^[2]
• c. 1190 – It means “to stop resisting”.^[3]
• 13th century – The Roman de Renart uses it for bending the feet.^[7][6]
• 1314 – The derivative flecissement is recorded.^[3]
• c. 1398 – The Ménagier de Paris uses it for making someone yield.^[7]
• Before 1526 – Jean Marot uses fléchir le genou.^[7]
• 1575 – Fléchisseur appears as a term of anatomy.^[3]
• 1580 – It means “to decrease in strength or value”.^[3]
• 1916 – The adjective fléchi is used in grammar.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To bend something gradually under pressure or a load.^[8][2]
2. (transitive) To bend a limb or the body by the action of the muscles, to flex: fléchir le genou, to kneel, and (figurative, dated) to submit.^[2][8][6]
3. (transitive, figurative) To make someone yield little by little, to soften or move to pity.^[8][1][6]
4. (intransitive) To bend or give way under a weight.^[1][6]
5. (intransitive, figurative) To stop resisting, to yield.^[3][6]
6. (intransitive) To weaken, to fall in intensity or value: Les prix ont fléchi cette semaine.^[3]
7. (grammar) To inflect a word.^[3]

Word family

• fléchissement
• fléchisseur
• fléchi

Related words

• flexible
• flexion
• inflexion
• infléchir
• réfléchir
• génuflexion
• Latin flectō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 618a
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert