Etymologically
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livrer

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /li.vʁe/[1]

Forms

livrer[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French livrer, inherited from Latin līberō (“to set free”), from līber (“free”).[2][3][4][5][1] In popular Latin the verb had come to mean “to let go”, then “to hand over, supply”;[2][4][6] Littré notes that the Latin verb already means “to hand over” in the capitularies of Charles the Bald.[7] The learned borrowing of the same Latin verb is libérer, its doublet.[3][1]

Cognate with Italian liberare, Occitan liurar, Catalan lliurar, Spanish librar and Romanian livra.[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Clermont Passion (late 10th century) it means “to set free”, a sense since left to délivrer, and “to put someone at another's disposal”.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has it for handing someone or something over to another's mercy, and has livrer bataille “to give battle”.[2][3][9] The commercial sense, handing goods that have been ordered to the buyer, is recorded in 1281;[2][3] “to hand over by treachery” appears in Commynes (about 1500), and “to reveal a secret” in Racine (1669).[2][3][9]

The reflexive se livrer meant “to give oneself up to someone's power” from the 13th century, and was also said of a woman granting her favours.[2][3] Between the late 16th and the late 17th century it came to mean “to devote oneself to” (se livrer à, 1616, d'Aubigné), “to confide in” (1667, Racine) and “to abandon oneself to a feeling” (1680, Madame de Sévigné).[2][3] Most derivatives belong to trade: livraison (12th century), livrable (1792) and livreur (1877).[4][3]

Timeline

  • Late 10th century – “To set free” and “to put at someone's disposal”, Clermont Passion.[2]
  • c. 1100 – Livrer bataille, in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • 1281 – “To deliver goods”.[2][3]
  • c. 1500 – “To betray”, Commynes.[2]
  • 1616 – Se livrer à “to devote oneself to”, d'Aubigné.[2]
  • 1680 – “To abandon oneself to a feeling”, Madame de Sévigné.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To hand over to: livrer un coupable à la justice, livré à soi-même, left to one's own devices.[8][1]
  2. To give up to destruction: livrer une ville au pillage.[8]
  3. To betray, hand over by treachery: livrer ses complices.[1][8]
  4. To deliver (goods ordered): livrer une commande; to deliver to (a customer).[1][8]
  5. To reveal, confide: livrer un secret.[1][2]
  6. Livrer bataille, livrer combat: to engage in battle.[2][8]
  7. Se livrer: to give oneself up; to confide in someone, se livrer à, to abandon oneself to (a feeling), to engage in (an activity).[1][2]

Word family

  • livraison
  • livreur
  • livrable
  • livrée
  • délivrer

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 301a
  6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse