jouir

Forms

jouir^[1] Old French first goïr (early 12th century), then joïr (1140), and jouir from the 13th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French joïr, inherited from Vulgar Latin *gaudīre, an altered form of Latin gaudēre (“to rejoice inwardly”).^[4][2][5][1] Its learned doublet is gaudir.^[1]

Cognate with Old Occitan jauzir and Catalan gausir, while Italian godere continues the Classical form.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, as goïr in the Voyage de saint Brendan (early 12th century), is transitive and means “to welcome warmly, make much of”.^[4][2][7]

Semantic evolution

The transitive sense “to welcome warmly” lasted into the 16th century.^[2] The construction jouir de prevailed, used from 1155 of the possession of a property, in law from 1272, and in formal language of having health (16th century) or a quality.^[2][4] The everyday use stresses pleasure: “to take pleasure or advantage from something” (about 1165), and in particular sexual pleasure, attested from about 1140 (Gaimar), now intransitive.^[2][4]

In European French this sexual sense has spread so far that the verb is hard to use in other contexts except in some set phrases, while in Canadian French it keeps the general sense of enjoying an activity.^[2] Bloch and Wartburg note that many Gallo-Romance dialects use it for “to manage, cope with”, and those of the south-east for “to use”.^[5][6] The noun jouissance (1466) replaced Old French joiance.^[5][2]

Timeline

• early 12th century – Goïr “to welcome warmly” in the Voyage de saint Brendan.^[4][2]
• c. 1140 – Joïr a woman in Gaimar's Estoire des Engleis.^[4][2]
• 1155 – Wace uses joïr de of possessing a property.^[4][2]
• c. 1165 – Chrétien de Troyes uses it for “to rejoice”.^[4]
• 1272 – Its first legal use.^[4][2]
• 1466 – The noun jouissance appears.^[2][5]
• 1580 – Montaigne writes joïr la santé.^[4][7]
• 1678 – Absolute use in La Fontaine.^[4][7]
• 1690 – Furetière records “to feel sexual pleasure”.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. Jouir de: to enjoy, to take pleasure or profit from something: jouir de la vie.^[8][1]
2. (absolute) To make the most of the pleasures life offers.^[8][6]
3. (intransitive) To have an orgasm.^[8][1]
4. Jouir de: to possess or have the use of something: jouir d'une bonne santé.^[8][4]
5. (law) To have the enjoyment of a property or a right.^[8][4]
6. (of things) To have or benefit from: a flat that has a fine view.^[8]

Word family

• jouissance
• jouisseur
• peine-à-jouir
• réjouir
• jouissant
• jouissif

Related words

• joie
• réjouissance
• réjouissant
• gaudir
• Latin gaudeō

Usage notes

In familiar use faire jouir can mean, by antiphrasis, “to make someone suffer”.^[7][8]

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