introduire

Forms

introduire^[1] Old French entreduire (about 1120) and entroduire.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin intrōdūcō (“to lead in, bring in”), from intrō (“inside”) and dūcō (“to lead”).^[5][6][1] The first form was entreduire (about 1120), which the DHLF takes as the phonetic outcome of the Latin verb; the present form (1292) is a remodelling after Latin.^[2][7] The TLFi treats the verb as a borrowing francized in the 14th century after the verb for “to lead”.^[5][3][8]

The Latin verb belongs to the family of dux (“leader”), the source of duc¹, and of the verbs that gave conduire, déduire, induire, produire and traduire.^[2] Compare Old Occitan entroduire, Catalan introduir, Spanish introducir and Italian introdurre.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Psautier de Cambridge (first half of the 12th century) entreduire means “to bring someone into a place”.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

From about 1180 the verb also meant “to prepare by teaching, instruct”, a sense that lasted until the 16th century and survived in falconry.^[2][8][6] About 1430 it was used of initiating a bride to the marriage bed.^[2]

From 1308 it meant “to make a thing accepted somewhere”, first in the past participle; in law a cause introduite (1470) was a case that had been begun, and the active introduire en justice appears in the Civil Code of 1804.^[5][2] In the 16th century it came to mean admitting someone into a society (1509), bringing a character or a quotation into a work (1529) and giving someone access to an important person (1569).^[5][2]

In the 17th century it was used of concrete things: bringing goods into a country (1615), a sense now gone but the source of “to bring something in for the first time”, and, from Corneille (1642), inserting one thing into another.^[2][5][3]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – Entreduire in the Psautier de Cambridge.^[5][6]
• c. 1180 – Entroduire “to instruct”.^[2]
• 1292 – The Latinized form introduire appears.^[2][8]
• 1470 – Cause introduite in law.^[5]
• 1509 – “To admit someone into a society”, in Jean Lemaire de Belges.^[5]
• 1529 – Tory uses it for inserting a passage in a work.^[5]
• 1615 – Montchrestien uses it for bringing goods into a country.^[5]
• 1642 – Corneille uses it for inserting one thing into another.^[2][3]
• 1804 – Introduire en justice in the Civil Code.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bring or show someone into a place: La secrétaire a introduit les visiteurs dans la salle.^[7][5]
2. To get someone admitted to a group or presented to a person; to introduce.^[7][5][1]
3. To bring in something new, such as a fashion, custom or product.^[7][5]
4. (law) Introduire une instance: to bring a case before a court.^[7]
5. To insert, to put one thing into another: Il introduisit la carte dans le distributeur.^[7][1]
6. (reflexive) S'introduire: to get into a place, often secretly.^[5]

Word family

• réintroduire

Related words

• introduction
• introducteur
• conduire
• Latin intrōdūcō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France