Etymologically
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imaginer

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /i.ma.ʒi.ne/[1]

Forms

imaginer[1] Old French also ymaginer.[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin imāginor (“to picture to oneself, imagine”), a word of the Imperial period derived from imāgō (“image, likeness”) (see image).[2][4][5][6]

Compare Occitan imaginar, Spanish imaginar and Italian immaginare.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1290 in Drouart la Vache, meaning “to form an image of in the mind”: toz jors pense et ymagine a cele qui le tient en joie (“he always thinks of and imagines her who keeps him in joy”).[2]

Semantic evolution

In 1314 it meant “to conceive the possibility of”, with imaginer que; about 1460 Chastellain used it for “to devise, invent”.[2][8] The reflexive is recorded in 1553, and s'imaginer “to fancy, believe without grounds” from 1636.[2] Vous n'imaginez pas… dates from 1779 and the parenthetic j'imagine “I suppose” from 1873.[8] Related words were borrowed from Latin about the same time: imagination (12th century), imaginable (1295) and imaginaire (1496).[4]

Timeline

  • 12th century – Imagination.[4]
  • 1290 – In Drouart la Vache.[2]
  • 1314 – Imaginer que, in Henri de Mondeville.[2]
  • c. 1460 – “To invent”, in Chastellain.[2][8]
  • 1636 – S'imaginer “to fancy”.[2]
  • 1873 – J'imagine “I suppose”.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To imagine, picture to oneself: j'imagine très bien la scène.[9][1]
  2. To suppose: j'imagine qu'il a voulu plaisanter.[9][8]
  3. To invent, devise: imaginer un expédient.[9]
  4. S'imaginer: to picture oneself; to fancy, believe wrongly.[2]

Word family

  • imaginatif
  • inimaginable
  • image
  • imagination
  • imaginaire
  • imaginable

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  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, 563a
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert