interner

Forms

interner^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French interne + -er.^[2][1][3] The adjective was borrowed in the 14th century from Latin internus.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Dictionnaire de Trévoux records the reflexive s'interner in 1704, meaning “to become close friends with someone”.^[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century the verb had senses now lost: “to go and live inland” (1838) and “to bring goods into the country” (1842).^[6][7] It entered legal language in 1845 for assigning someone a place of forced residence, from which came the modern “confine by administrative order”, used of refugees and of the soldiers of a defeated army who crossed into a neutral country.^[6][2] At the beginning of the 20th century it came to mean committing someone to a psychiatric hospital (1902), and Mauriac used it in 1923 of sending a child to a boarding school.^[2][6][8]

Timeline

• 1704 – S'interner “to unite closely” in the Dictionnaire de Trévoux.^[2]
• 1838 – A transitive use in the Bulletin des lois, and the sense “go and live inland”.^[5][6]
• 1845 – Bescherelle records it for assigning a forced residence.^[2][3]
• 1858 – The participle interné is used as an adjective.^[2]
• 1902 – It means to confine in a psychiatric asylum.^[2]
• 1923 – Mauriac uses it for placing a child in a boarding school.^[2][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (dated) To assign someone a place of forced residence which they may not leave.^[9][2]
2. To intern, confine by administrative order, in a camp or prison: interner des réfugiés.^[9][5]
3. To commit to a psychiatric hospital.^[9][1]

Related words

• interne
• internat
• internement
• Latin internus

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 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, 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 c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert