intimider

Forms

intimider^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French in- + timide + -er, according to the TLFi, the GLLF and Bloch and Wartburg.^[2][3][4] The adjective comes from Latin timidus (“fearful”), from timeō (“to fear”).^[4] The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert instead take the verb from Medieval Latin intimidō (“to make afraid”), built on the same Latin adjective, as does Wiktionary.^[5][6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1515 as a legal term, “to frighten, threaten gravely”, in a royal text collected in the Recueil général des anciennes lois françaises.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Created as a legal term, the verb soon passed into ordinary use for “to frighten” (Rabelais, 1546).^[7][2] By weakening it came to mean “to make someone lose their self-assurance” (La Rochefoucauld, 1662), the commonest sense today.^[2][7][6] The derivatives keep the idea of fear: intimidation (1552, Rabelais), first a legal term, intimidant (1580) and intimidable (1845).^[7][4][2]

Timeline

• 1515 – First recorded as a legal term, “to threaten gravely”.^[2][4]
• 1546 – Rabelais uses it for “to frighten”.^[2]
• 1552 – Intimidation appears in Rabelais.^[4][7]
• 1580 – Intimidant “frightening” is recorded.^[2]
• 1662 – La Rochefoucauld uses it for “to make lose one's assurance”.^[2][7]
• 1845 – Intimidable is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To intimidate, fill with fear by a show of force or authority: on a voulu intimider les témoins.^[6][8]
2. To make shy or ill at ease, to overawe: ce grand salon l'intimidait.^[6][8]

Word family

• intimidation
• intimidant
• intimidable
• intimidateur

Related words

• timide
• timidité
• Latin timidus

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. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)