gratifier

Forms

gratifier^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin grātificor (“to oblige, grant as a favour”),^[2][3][4][5] a compound of grātus (“pleasing, welcome”) and faciō (“to make, do”).^[3][6][1] Bloch and Wartburg note that the modern sense of the verb comes from gratification, which had its present sense from the first texts.^[4] The Grand Robert likewise dates the modern sense to the 17th century, under the influence of the noun.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1366 in the accounts of the Dukes of Burgundy, meaning to grant a favour or a gift to someone: the duke le grattifie de 100 florins d'or “rewards him with 100 gold florins”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In classical French gratifier à quelqu'un (1534) meant to grant someone one's favour, and gratifier quelqu'un (1609) to please him, a sense of the Latin verb.^[3][6] From the middle of the 18th century it was used ironically (1769, Rousseau) for giving someone something unpleasant, a use that tends to take over from the older one.^[3][2]

In the 18th century it also came to mean “to satisfy” (1787), since 1823 with a thing as subject, “to be a source of pleasure for”.^[3][2] The psychological sense “to give someone a sense of worth” (about 1950) comes from psychoanalysis, where it is opposed to frustrer, and follows the English gratify, which had itself been taken from the original French sense in the 16th century.^[3] The adjective gratifiant dates from the mid-20th century.^[3]

Timeline

• 1362 – The noun gratification is recorded.^[4]
• 1366 – First record of gratifier de “to reward with”.^[2][3][4]
• 1534 – Gratifier à quelqu'un “to grant one's favour to” in Bonaventure Des Périers.^[3][6]
• 1609 – Malherbe uses gratifier quelqu'un “to please someone”.^[3][6]
• 1769 – Ironic use by Rousseau.^[2][3]
• 1787 – Féraud records the sense “to satisfy”.^[6][3]
• 1823 – Las Cases uses it with a thing as subject, “to gratify (vanity)”.^[2]
• c. 1950 – The psychological sense appears.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, with de) To give someone a gift, favour or honour generously: le maire gratifia les pompiers d'une médaille.^[8][2]
2. (ironic) To inflict something unpleasant on someone, or to attribute to them something they did not do: elle le gratifia d'un regard furieux.^[8][9]
3. (psychology) To give someone satisfaction, to raise them in their own esteem.^[8][3]
4. (dated) To please or gratify someone, or their senses or vanity.^[2]

Word family

• gratifiant

Related words

• gratification
• gré
• Latin grātificor
• English gratify

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d 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. 4, 247b
6. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette