lamenter

Forms

lamenter^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin lāmentō (“to weep, to weep over”), from lāmentor (“to wail, complain, deplore”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Wiktionary calls it a learned borrowing.^[1] The Latin verb is derived from lāmentum (“lament”), a word of obscure origin.^[3] Littré took the noun for *clāmentum, from clāmō (“to cry out”).^[7]

Old French more often used forms crossed with other words: gaimenter (late 10th century) and garmenter (about 1150), still alive in some dialects.^[2] Meyer-Lübke explains the first form by a cross with an interjection meaning “woe”.^[8] Littré cites Norman guermenter.^[7] Cognate with Italian lamentare, Old Occitan lamentar, Spanish lamentar and Portuguese lamentar.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is intransitive, in Gautier de Coinci (about 1225).^[2] Rey dates the pronominal use to about 1090,^[3] and Littré quotes sei lement from the Chanson de Roland.^[7] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has it from 1181–1185, meaning “to lament, grieve”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Until the 17th century the verb was used transitively or intransitively without the reflexive pronoun.^[4] The intransitive lamenter now survives only for the cry of the crocodile (1834) and of some birds;^[3][10] the GLLF dates its use of animals to Rabelais (1546).^[11] The transitive sense “to bewail, deplore” (late 14th century, Eustache Deschamps) is archaic too, though Boileau still used it in jest.^[2][3]

Modern usage has essentially the pronominal se lamenter, which the TLFi dates to the middle of the 15th century (Jean Régnier).^[2][3] The noun lamentation was borrowed from Latin in the 12th century,^[3] and lamentable was formed in the 14th century after Latin lāmentābilis.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1090 – The pronominal use is first found, according to Rey.^[3]
• 1181–1185 – It is recorded in Anglo-Norman.^[9]
• c. 1225 – Gautier de Coinci uses the intransitive verb.^[2]
• late 14th century – Eustache Deschamps uses it transitively.^[2]
• mid-15th century – Jean Régnier has se lamenter.^[2]
• 1546 – Rabelais uses it of animals' cries.^[11]
• 1834 – It is used of the crocodile's cry.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. se lamenter: to lament, to complain loudly and at length about a misfortune: Il se lamente sur la pluie depuis ce matin.^[10][2][1]
2. (intransitive, archaic) To lament, to wail.^[10][11]
3. (intransitive) Of a crocodile or certain birds, to utter its cry: La chouette lamentait dans le bois.^[10][3]
4. (transitive, archaic) To bewail or deplore something.^[10][7]

Related words

• lamentation
• lamentable
• Latin lāmentor

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 139a
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse