guider

Forms

guider^[1] Old French guier, in use from the Chanson de Roland until shortly before 1407.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French guier (“to lead, guide”), reshaped in 1368 after guide.^[2][3][4] The Old French verb is borrowed from Frankish *wītan (“to show a direction”),^[2][3][5] from Proto-Germanic *wītaną;^[1] Rey compares Old High German wīzan and Old Saxon wītan (“to reproach”).^[3] That noun (1370) was borrowed from Italian guida or Old Occitan guida and replaced Old French guis, guion.^[6]

The other Romance verbs are less clear: Bloch and Wartburg derive Old Occitan guidar, Italian guidare and Spanish guiar from a Gothic verb,^[6] and the REW sets up a Gothic noun meaning “guide” but finds its vowel hard to explain.^[7] Wiktionary allows for a Medieval Latin intermediary.^[1] Littré already noted that the ⟨gu⟩ points to a Germanic source.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Guider is first recorded in 1368, in the accounts of the king of Navarre, meaning “to accompany someone and show the way”.^[2] The older guier appears in the Chanson de Roland (1080).^[3][9] Anglo-Norman texts have guider from about 1360–1379.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The verb kept its first sense and took figurative ones: “to advise, steer someone in life” (Charles d'Orléans, 1433) and, reflexive, se guider “to find one's way” (1516).^[2][3] With a thing as subject it came to mean “to help find the way” (Du Bellay, 1549) and “to be the guiding principle of” (1585), while “to direct, make go in a certain direction” is found in Ronsard (1550).^[2][3] The derivative guidage (1611) is now used mostly in technical senses.^[3]

Timeline

• 1080 – The older form guier appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[3][9]
• 1368 – Guider is first recorded, in the sense “to show the way”.^[2]
• 1433 – Charles d'Orléans uses it for advising someone.^[2][3]
• 1516 – Reflexive se guider “to find one's way”.^[2]
• 1549 – Du Bellay uses it of a thing that shows the way.^[2]
• 1550 – Ronsard uses it for directing something.^[2]
• 1611 – The derivative guidage is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To go with someone and show them the way: guider des visiteurs dans la vieille ville.^[11][8]
2. To lead a person in their walk, as a blind person.^[11]
3. To make a person, animal or vehicle go in a certain direction, to steer: un drone guidé par satellite.^[11][8]
4. (figurative) To advise or direct someone in their conduct or choices.^[2][8]
5. (of things) To help someone find their way; to be the guiding principle of something.^[2][8]
6. Se guider: to find one's way, to take something as a guide.^[2][8]

Word family

• guidage

Related words

• guide
• guidon

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 601b
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d e f 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
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert