plier

Forms

plier^[1] Old French pleier (881), then ploier (12th century), from which ployer (about 1360); the infinitive plier is found from the early 13th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pleier, inherited from Latin plicō (“to fold, bend, roll up”).^[3][2][1][4] The modern verb is an analogical variant of the same Old French verb as ployer: after verbs such as nier and prier, which had a stressed stem nie, prie beside an unstressed ⟨nei-⟩, ⟨prei-⟩, forms with stressed plie were made from the 12th century, and then forms with stressed endings.^[3][2][5] Until the 16th century many forms in ⟨i⟩ cannot be assigned to one infinitive or the other, and in the 17th century grammarians tried to give the two infinitives distinct meanings.^[2][5][3]

The Latin verb is an intensive formed on the element -plicō of applicō and explicō, beside plectō (“to plait, weave”);^[2] Rey traces the group to an Indo-European root also seen in Ancient Greek πλέκω (plékō, “to plait”) and Old High German flehtan.^[2] Cognate with Italian piegare, Occitan plegar, Catalan plegar, Spanish llegar and Romanian pleca (“to leave”).^[6][2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Séquence de sainte Eulalie (881) pleier means to make someone yield.^[3][2] The concrete sense “to fold (something soft)” follows in the Chanson de Roland about 1100.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

The sense of folding together the parts of a jointed object, closing it, appears about 1150.^[3] From it come pliant “folding” (1420) and the folding stool called pliant (1658).^[3] From the early 13th century the verb also meant to bend something flexible.^[3] Used without an object, it meant to give way, weaken (about 1140) and to bend, sag (1160–1174).^[3]

Plier bagage dates from the 16th century;^[5] Montaigne used it for “to die” (1580) and Corneille in the figurative sense “to leave” (1643).^[5] The dance term plié is recorded in the Encyclopédie in 1753.^[3] In familiar modern French c'est plié means that the matter is settled.^[7]

Timeline

• 881 – Pleier “to make yield” in the Séquence de sainte Eulalie.^[3][2]
• c. 1100 – “To fold” in the Chanson de Roland.^[3]
• c. 1140 – Intransitive “to give way” in Geffrei Gaimar.^[3]
• Early 13th century – The infinitive plier;^[3] replier follows in the same century.^[3]
• 1420 – Pliant “folding”, of a chair.^[3]
• 16th century – Plier bagage.^[5]
• 1658 – Pliant “folding stool”.^[3]
• 1753 – Plié in dance.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To fold something soft or flat over on itself, once or several times: plier une nappe en quatre.^[7][9][10]
2. (transitive) To fold up the parts of something jointed, as a chair or a tent.^[3][7]
3. (transitive) To bend something flexible, or a limb: plier les genoux.^[3][7]
4. (transitive, figurative) To make someone give in, to bend someone to one's will.^[3][7]
5. (intransitive) To bend, sag under a weight.^[3][7]
6. (intransitive, figurative) To yield, give way.^[3][7]
7. Plier bagage: to pack up and leave.^[9][5]
8. Se plier à: to submit to a rule or someone's wishes.^[7]
9. (familiar) To damage, wreck;^[1][7] c'est plié: it is settled.^[1][7]

Word family

• déplier
• replier
• pli
• pliant
• pliable

Related words

• ployer
• déployer
• Latin plicō

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x 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
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 66a
5. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)