interdire

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɛ̃.tɛʁ.diʁ/^[1]

Forms

interdire^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin interdīcō (“to forbid”), adapted after dire;^{[2][3][4][5][6][1]} the religious sense comes from the Church Latin use “to forbid worship in a place or to a priest” (9th century).^[2][3] The Latin verb is formed from inter- (“between”) and dīcō (“to say”);^[3][7][8] Littré explains the sense from a legal use, “to invoke a law between parties”, hence “to forbid”.^[3][7][8]

Old French had borrowed the verb in a more French form, entredire “to place under an interdict” (1174).^[2][3][5][1] Compare Old Occitan entredire, Spanish entredecir and Italian interdire.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A document from Douai (about 1250, in a 16th-century copy) has it for “to forbid something to someone”.^[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

Its religious use for forbidding worship in a place appears in the Songe du Vergier (1376–78), and for a priest in Pascal (1656).^[2][3] Before 1615 (Pasquier) it meant to suspend someone from his functions, and in civil law (Furetière, 1690) to deprive someone of the free management of his property.^[2][3]

The adjective interdit “dumbfounded” (Corneille, 1634) gave the verb a sense “to throw into confusion” (Pascal, 1656), now rare, and s'interdire “to be disconcerted” (Molière, 1661), now out of use.^[2][3] Montaigne (about 1590) uses it for making something impossible.^[2] The slogan of May 1968, il est interdit d'interdire, reflects an absolute use.^[3][9]

Timeline

• 1174 – The older form entredire.^[2]
• c. 1250 – “To forbid”, Douai.^[2]
• 1376–78 – To place a place under an interdict.^[2]
• Before 1615 – “To suspend from office”, Pasquier.^[2]
• 1634 – Interdit “dumbfounded”, Corneille.^[2]
• 1690 – Legal interdiction, Furetière.^[2]
• 1968 – Il est interdit d'interdire.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To forbid, prohibit, ban: le médecin lui a interdit le sel, il est interdit de fumer.^[9][1]
2. To make impossible, prevent.^[2][7]
3. S'interdire: to refrain from, deny oneself.^[9]
4. (law) To place under legal interdiction, (religion) to place under an interdict; to suspend from office.^[2][1]
5. (old) To dumbfound.^[3]

Word family

• interdit
• interdiction

Related words

• dire
• prohiber
• défendre

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b 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, 751b
7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert