interférer

Forms

interférer^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English interfere, which meant “to strike each other”, then “to mix, combine their effects” (in physics in Thomas Young, 1801) and since the 17th and 18th centuries “to clash” and “to intervene”.^[2][3][4] The English verb itself is from Old French s'entreferir (“to strike one another”) (about 1165, Benoît de Sainte-Maure), a compound of entre- and ferir (“to strike”), the ancestor of French férir.^[2][3][4]

Littré and the Grand Robert instead take the English verb as formed from Latin inter (“between”) and ferō (“to carry”), and the GLLF hesitates between that verb and feriō (“to strike”).^[5][6][7] Rey notes that the English noun interference was itself made on the model of difference, as though the verb were such a Latin compound.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first used in 1819 by Arago and Fresnel as a physics term, of waves of light that produce interference.^[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

Beside the physics sense the verb has been used figuratively for “to intervene, to meddle” (1823, Las Cases, taken up again in 1902), and for simultaneous actions that get in each other's way.^[2][3][4] A transitive use, “to produce an interference with”, is found in the early 20th century, in Proust.^[3][7] Other dictionaries date the verb later: Bloch and Wartburg to 1833, the GLLF to Mozin's dictionary of 1842.^[8][7][9]

The related nouns were taken from English too: interférence (1819, Fresnel), interférent (1836), interféromètre (1901) and interféron (in French dictionaries in 1963).^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – Old French s'entreferir “to strike one another”, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^[2][3]
• 1819 – Arago and Fresnel use interférer in physics.^[2][3][6]
• 1823 – Las Cases uses it for “to intervene”.^[2][3]
• 1842 – Recorded in Mozin's dictionary.^[7][9]
• 1902 – The figurative sense is taken up again.^[3][4]
• before 1922 – Proust uses it transitively.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (physics) Of waves or rays: to produce interference: deux ondes qui interfèrent.^[4][2][5]
2. (figurative) Of actions or events: to act on one another, to get in each other's way: ces deux réformes risquent d'interférer.^[4][7]
3. To intervene or meddle.^[3][1]
4. (transitive, rare) To produce an interference with.^[7][3]

Related words

• interférence
• interférent
• interféromètre
• interféron
• férir
• English interfere

Usage notes

The ⟨é⟩ of the stem becomes ⟨è⟩ before a silent syllable (il interfère), as in céder;^[5][6] Littré kept ⟨é⟩ in the future and conditional (il interférera).^[5][6]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF