ployer

Forms

ployer^[1] Old French pleier (881), then ploier from the 12th century; the spelling ployer is found from about 1360.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French ploier, earlier pleier, inherited from Latin plicō (“to fold, fold back on itself”).^[3][2][4] Rey describes the Latin verb as a poetic and post-classical word that survived in the Romance languages.^[2]

The verb plier is only an analogical variant of the same word.^[3][2] Old French verbs such as nier and prier had a stressed stem ⟨nie-⟩, ⟨prie-⟩ beside an unstressed stem ⟨nei-⟩, ⟨noi-⟩, ⟨prei-⟩, ⟨proi-⟩.^[3][2] On their model, forms in ⟨plie-⟩ were made beside the Old French infinitive from the 12th century, and a whole new verb was drawn from them in the 16th century.^[3][2][5] The 17th century fixed the split between the two: the variant became the concrete verb, close to pli, and the older verb the more literary one.^[3]

Cognate with Italian piegare, Romanian pleca (“to leave”) and Spanish llegar (“to arrive”).^[3][2] Wiktionary traces the Latin verb to Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (“to plait, weave”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, as pleier in the Cantilène de sainte Eulalie (881), already has the figurative sense “to make someone yield, break their resistance”.^[5][2][6] The concrete sense “to force a thing to bend despite its resistance” is found from 1080, in the Chanson de Roland.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the verb was already used intransitively in war, of troops giving ground under pressure (1155), and the reflexive se ployer meant “to bend the upper body” (about 1240).^[2] Middle French added the intransitive sense “to bend under a force” (about 1460) and its figurative counterpart “to give way under constraint” (about 1530).^[2] In 1559 Amyot used it transitively for bending the body or a limb at its joint; in the early 17th century ployer le dos, les épaules or les genoux meant “to submit”.^[2][6]

The verb was common in the early 17th century, but Richelet (1680) and the Académie (1694) already called it old.^[2] The 18th century hardly used it; it was brought back into favour in the 19th century, but it remains archaic or literary, above all in its transitive uses, where plier is the everyday word.^[3][2][5]

Timeline

• 881 – Pleier “to make someone yield” appears in the Cantilène de sainte Eulalie.^[5][2]
• 1080 – The Chanson de Roland has the concrete sense “to bend”.^[2][6]
• 12th century – The form ploier appears.^[2][6]
• 1155 – Used intransitively of troops giving ground.^[2]
• c. 1240 – Se ployer “to bend the upper body” is recorded.^[2]
• c. 1360 – The spelling ployer appears.^[2]
• c. 1460 – Intransitive “to bend under a force”.^[2]
• 1559 – Amyot uses it for bending the body or a limb.^[2][6]
• 1680 – Richelet records it as an old word.^[2]
• 19th century – The verb comes back into literary use.^[3][2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, dated) To fold cloth or paper; now plier.^[7][5][8]
2. (transitive, literary) To bend something by forcing it down, to make it curve: Le vent ployait les jeunes peupliers.^[7][9][6]
3. Ployer les genoux: to bend the knees;^[7][10][8] (figurative, literary) to give in, humble oneself.^[7][10][8]
4. (intransitive) To bend or sag under a force or weight: L'étagère ployait sous les livres.^[7][10]
5. (figurative, intransitive) To yield, to be overwhelmed: ployer sous le faix.^[7][8]
6. (reflexive, literary) Se ployer: to bend, to give way.^[10][7]

Word family

• déployer
• éployé
• reployer
• ploiement
• ployable

Related words

• plier
• Latin plicō

References

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