gémir

Forms

gémir^[1] Old French present participle gemant, before the verb took the -iss- conjugation in the 13th century.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French gemir, borrowed from Latin gemō (“to moan, lament, deplore”), with a change of conjugation.^{[3][4][5][6][1]} The Latin verb has no certain etymology.^[4] The GLLF starts instead from a popular Latin *gemire.^[7] The regular inherited outcome of the Latin verb is geindre, its doublet.^[3][4][1][2]

Cognate with Old Occitan gemir, Portuguese gemer and Italian gemere.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi and the DHLF date it to about 1170, in the Vie d'Édouard le Confesseur, meaning “to express pain in a plaintive voice”.^[3][4] A 12th-century translation of Job has ploranz et gemanz “weeping and moaning”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The transitive use for “to deplore” appears about 1240; today, as a literary use from about 1540, it means “to utter with moans”, often with the sense of complaining endlessly.^[4][8] About 1530 it was applied to the plaintive call of some birds, such as the turtle dove in Marot,^[4][7][2] in 1648 to things that give a mournful sound,^[4][7] and in 1660 figuratively to suffering under oppression, a poetic and archaic use.^[4][7] The noun gémissement is older than the verb (about 1120).^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – Gemir appears in the Vie d'Édouard le Confesseur.^[3][4]
• c. 1240 – It is used transitively for “to deplore”.^[4]
• 1464 – Gémisseur is recorded once.^[3][4]
• c. 1530 – Marot uses it of a bird's call.^[7][4]
• 1648 – Scarron uses it of things.^[7][4]
• 1660 – Corneille uses it of suffering under oppression.^[7][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To moan or groan, expressing pain or pleasure in inarticulate, plaintive sounds: Le blessé gémissait sur le brancard.^[8][7][2]
2. To lament or complain.^[8][4]
3. Of some birds: to utter a plaintive call: Un pigeon gémissait sur le toit.^[8][7][2]
4. Of things: to make a long, mournful sound: Les vieux volets gémissaient sous la bourrasque.^[8][7]
5. (figurative, literary) To suffer under a burden; to be oppressed.^[8][7][2]
6. (transitive, literary) To utter with moans.^[8][4]

Word family

• gémissement
• gémissant
• gémisseur

Related words

• geindre
• Latin gemō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 92a
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert