munir

Forms

munir^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin mūniō (“to do masonry work, build, fortify, protect”), about 1330.^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary calls it inherited.^[1] The Latin verb, a building term, is a denominative of moenia (“walls, ramparts”), a word of uncertain origin.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Guillaume de Digulleville's Pèlerinage de vie humaine (about 1330), meaning “to give protection to, protect”: munir des gantelès, of being protected with gauntlets.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, “to protect, safeguard”, was used figuratively from about 1350, and in particular meant “to supply (a stronghold) with provisions and arms”.^[2][5] In the 16th century it also meant “to fortify (a castle, a town)” (1530), and se munir “to entrench oneself”.^[5][2]

Also in the 16th century the verb left the military field and took the wider sense “to equip, provide with”, recorded in Montaigne in 1588, with the pronominal se munir de; this sense became the usual one and drove out the earlier uses.^[5][2] Figurative uses followed in the 17th century, such as se munir de patience (1672).^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1330 – Guillaume de Digulleville uses munir “to protect”.^[2]
• c. 1350 – Gilles li Muisis uses it figuratively.^[2]
• 1530 – Lefèvre d'Étaples's Bible uses it for “to fortify (a place)”.^[2]
• 1564 – The antonym démunir is recorded.^[4]
• 1588 – Montaigne uses it for “to provide with what is needed”.^[2]
• 1672 – Se munir de patience is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (dated) To supply (a stronghold, an army) with means of defence or provisions.^[6][2]
2. To provide or equip (someone or something) with what is necessary or useful: munir une valise d'un cadenas.^[6][7]
3. Se munir de: to take (something) with one, provide oneself with: se munir d'un parapluie; figuratively se munir de patience.^[6][8][1]

Word family

• démunir
• remunir

Related words

• munition
• prémunir
• Latin munio

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/3, 221b
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 c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette