Etymologically
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menacer

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mə.na.se/[1]

Forms

menacer[1] Old French manecier (about 1120) and menacier (about 1160); menacer from 1380.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French menacier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *mināciō, from Latin minācia (“threat”) (see menace).[2][4][5][1] The Vulgar Latin verb replaced classical minor (“to threaten”) in that sense; the classical verb, which meant properly “to jut out”, survived in the sense “to lead” (see mener).[2][4] The Reichenau glosses have “manatiat” for “minatur” “he threatens”.[2]

Cognate with Italian minacciare, Romanian amenința, Catalan menassar, Spanish amenazar and Portuguese ameaçar.[2][6] Littré gives Walloon manesî.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cambridge Psalter (first half of the 12th century) has manachad eals, translating minavit eos “he threatened them”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Menacier quelqu'un de with an infinitive, threatening someone with an act, is in the Couronnement de Louis (about 1135).[2] About 1200 a thing could threaten too, in manecier trebuchement “to threaten to fall”;[2][3][7] menacer ruine “to be on the verge of collapse” is recorded by the Académie in 1694, after Montaigne's menaçant sa ruyne.[2][3][7] A proverb of the 15th century says menacez vivent, et decollez meurent “the threatened live and the beheaded die”.[7] The adjective menaçant is said of the weather in Rousseau (1762).[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1120 – Manecier, in the Cambridge Psalter.[2][3]
  • c. 1135 – Menacier de with an infinitive.[2]
  • c. 1160 – Menacier, in the Roman d'Eneas.[2]
  • c. 1200 – Of a thing, “to threaten (to happen)”.[2]
  • 1380 – The form menacer.[2][5]
  • 1694 – Menacer ruine, in the Académie dictionary.[3]
  • 1762 – Temps menaçant, in Rousseau.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To threaten, try to intimidate: menacer quelqu'un de mort, menacer de with an infinitive.[8][1]
  2. Of a thing, to endanger, be a danger to.[8][1]
  3. Of a thing, to be likely to happen or about to: l'orage menace, menacer ruine, to be on the point of collapse.[8][3]

Word family

  • menaçant
  • menace
  • mener
  • Latin minācia

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 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert