Etymologically
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parcourir

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Pronunciation

  • /paʁ.ku.ʁiʁ/[1]

Forms

parcourir[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin percurrō (“to run through, run over; to survey, pass in review”), adapted after courir.[2][3][4][5] The Latin verb is formed from per (“through”) and currō (“to run”).[2][6] Littré and Wiktionary analyse it as par- and the French verb, formed to render the Latin.[7][1]

The Grand Robert and the GLLF start from an Old French parcorre in Wace (about 1155);[4][6] the TLFi's first record is an isolated reading in a 13th-century manuscript of a poem by Wace, after which the verb returns only at the start of the 16th century as percourrir (Fossetier).[8] Bloch and Wartburg date it to the 15th century, beside parcours (1286), both taken from Latin and refashioned after the French words.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In its first record, a 13th-century manuscript of Wace's Roman de Rou, it means to go through a place or visit it in all its parts.[8][2]

Semantic evolution

After this isolated record the verb reappears at the beginning of the 16th century, following the noun parcours in the same sense.[2] In the 16th century it also meant “to pursue at a run” (Baïf, 1573), now obsolete, and customary law had droit de parcourir, the right to graze one's animals on unenclosed land (1624, customs of Gorze).[8][2][7]

The sense of reading quickly and superficially, taken from Latin, is first found in Montaigne (1588), and parcourir des yeux, to run one's eyes over, in Racine (1669).[8][2] In the 17th century it came to be said of things that go from one end to the other, first figuratively (Boileau, 1671–1682), then literally (Rollin, 1731–1738), and of covering a set distance (late 17th century, Malebranche).[8][2] Rey notes that the verb gave only rare derivatives, parcoureur and parcourable (20th century).[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1155 – Old French parcorre in Wace.[4][6]
  • 13th century – Parcourir in a manuscript of Wace's Roman de Rou.[8]
  • 1286 – The noun parcours.[3]
  • Early 16th century – Percourrir (Fossetier).[8]
  • 1573 – Baïf: “to pursue at a run”.[8]
  • 1588 – Montaigne: to read quickly.[8][2]
  • 1624 – Droit de parcourir, a grazing right.[8]
  • 1669 – Racine: parcourir des yeux.[8]
  • 1671–1682 – Boileau: of a thing going from end to end.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To go through all parts of (a place), to travel all over: parcourir la Bretagne à vélo.[5][9][10]
  2. Of a thing: to travel across, run through: un frisson lui parcourut le dos.[5][8]
  3. To cover (a set distance or route).[5][10]
  4. To read quickly, skim: parcourir une lettre.[5][1]
  5. To look over the parts of a whole: parcourir la foule du regard.[8][6]
  6. (nautical) Parcourir les coutures: to go over every seam of a ship with a chisel to check it.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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
  9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)