gouverner

Forms

gouverner^[1] Old French guverner (about 1050), governer (12th century), then gouverner (13th century).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French guverner, inherited from Latin gubernō (“to steer a ship, direct, govern”),^[4][5][3] a technical borrowing of the language of seafaring from Ancient Greek κυβερνάω (kubernáō, “to steer”).^[3][1]

Cognate with Old Occitan governar, Italian governare and Spanish gobernar.^[6][7] The Greek verb is also the source of cybernétique.^[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as guverner in the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050), meaning “to rule” and “to direct”: E grant maisnede douses guverner “and you should rule a great household”.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

From the first the verb meant both “to exercise political power” and “to direct the conduct of something or someone”.^[3][4] Many of the later senses of the second kind are obsolete: “to keep, provide for” (13th century), whence “to nurse a sick person” (1425), still found in the 19th century;^[3] “to take care of” (1360), especially “to manage thriftily” (1611); “to bring up a child” (late 14th century); “to talk with” and “to be in contact with” (16th century).^[3] In grammar it meant “to govern (a case)” (after 1650).^[3][4] The sense “to dominate”, with a thing as subject (about 1190), is now literary.^[3]

The Latin sense “to steer a ship” is found from the Chanson de Roland (1080), which led to “to drive” (gouverner une voiture, 1689) and the regional sense “to tend livestock”, still used in Switzerland.^[3][4] In 1789 the participles gouvernants and gouvernés were used as nouns for the rulers and the ruled.^[4] English govern, from Old French governer, is recorded from the late 13th century.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Guverner “to rule, direct” appears in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[4]
• c. 1100 – The Chanson de Roland uses it for steering a ship.^[4][6]
• c. 1190 – Used with a thing as subject, “to dominate”.^[3]
• Late 12th century – The derivative gouvernement appears.^[3]
• Late 13th century – English borrows it as govern.^[9]
• 1425 – Used for nursing a sick person.^[3]
• 1534 – Rabelais has gouvernante “governess”.^[4]
• 1689 – Gouverner une voiture “to drive a carriage”.^[3]
• 1789 – Gouvernants and gouvernés are used as nouns.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To steer (a boat); (intransitive, of a ship) to answer the helm.^[10][11]
2. To exercise political power over (a country, a people), to govern, to rule; also used absolutely.^[11][1]
3. (dated) To direct, manage; to exert a decisive influence on (someone): il se laisse gouverner par son frère.^[10]
4. (figurative) To master, control (one's feelings): gouverner sa colère.^[10]
5. (grammar, dated) To govern (a case or mood).^[3][4]
6. (Switzerland) To tend livestock.^[3]

Word family

• gouvernant
• gouverne
• gouvernement
• gouverneur
• ingouvernable

Related words

• gouvernance
• cybernétique
• Latin guberno
• English govern

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
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 d e f g h i j k 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. 4, 299b
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)