poser

Pronunciation

• IPA: /po.ze/^[1]

Forms

poser^[1] Earliest pausar (about 980), then poser (about 1050).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French poser, inherited from Vulgar Latin pausō (“to cease, stop”), derived from pausa (“pause”) (see pause), from Greek: from Ancient Greek παύω (paúō, “I stop, cease”), of obscure origin.^[3][4][5][1] In Christian inscriptions “pausāre” meant “to rest” of the dead (“hic pausat in pace”), whence repausō (see reposer).^[3][6] Because its participle “pausātus” was close in form and sense to “positus”, the participle of Latin pōnō (“to place, put”) (see pondre), “pausāre” took over most of the senses of “pōnere” in spoken Late Latin and Gallo-Romance, and its compounds too: apposer, composer, déposer, exposer, imposer, opposer, proposer, supposer.^[3][4][6]

Cognate with Italian posare, Occitan pausar and Spanish posar.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found at the end of the 10th century in the Passion of Clermont as pausar, “to lay down, bury”; the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has poser in the same sense.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The senses “to bury” and, intransitively, “to rest (of the dead)” (1100) gave way to déposer and reposer.^[3] In the 12th century poser inherited the main transitive senses of pōnere: “to fix, establish” (1155), “to set someone in office” (about 1150) and “to put in place” (1188).^[2][3] Posons que “let us suppose” is in Jean de Meun (1269–1278), and cela posé in Pascal.^[2]

Poser la première pierre is recorded in 1680 and poser des sentinelles in 1579.^[2] In painting it meant giving a model the right attitude (Molière, 1669), whence poser “to sit for an artist” and, figuratively, “to strike an attitude, show off”, the source of pose (1694) and poseur (1676).^[2][4] Poser une question dates from 1789 (Mirabeau), after poser l'état d'une question (1718), and poser sa candidature from 1862.^[2] In Belgium poser un acte means “to perform an act” (1879).^[2]

Timeline

• Late 10th century – Pausar “to bury” in the Passion of Clermont.^[2]
• c. 1050 – Poser in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[2]
• 1155 – “To fix, establish”, in Wace.^[2]
• 1188 – “To put in place”, in Aimon de Varennes.^[2]
• 1269–1278 – Posons que in Jean de Meun.^[2]
• 1669 – The painter's sense, in Molière.^[2]
• 1789 – Poser une question.^[2]
• 1862 – Poser sa candidature in Sainte-Beuve.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To put down, lay or place something somewhere: poser un livre sur la table.^[5][1]
2. To install, fit, put in place: poser des rideaux, poser la première pierre.^[5][1]
3. To put a question; to set out, establish: poser une question, poser un principe, posons que….^[1][2]
4. To land an aircraft.^[1]
5. (intransitive) To pose for a painter or photographer; to show off.^[2][4]
6. Se poser: to land, settle, se poser en: to set oneself up as.^[1][5]

Word family

• pose
• poseur
• apposer
• déposer

Related words

• composer
• imposer
• juxtaposer
• opposer
• reposer
• superposer
• supposer
• demander
• pause
• pondre
• position

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 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 g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette