priver

Forms

priver^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin prīvō (“to set apart, take away, rob”),^[2][3][4][5] which is derived from prīvus (“deprived of, lacking”) (see privé).^[3][6] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has it from about 1270.^[7]

Cognate with Italian privare, Occitan privar, Catalan privar, Spanish privar and Portuguese privar.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1300, in a Romance glossary, meaning to take a good or advantage away from someone or something;^[2] Bloch and Wartburg and the Robert dictionaries date it 1307.^[4][10][11] Oresme writes in the 14th century that a man est privé par la mort “is deprived by death” of the goods he has.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Like the Latin verb, it means to take from someone the enjoyment of a good or advantage, especially as a punishment, to remove from office (1461).^[3] With a person as object and death or illness as subject, it came to mean to take a person from those close to them (1553).^[3] The pronominal se priver de “to give up the use of a pleasure” is recorded in 1538, and se priver used absolutely, “to deny oneself”, by 1819 (Boiste) or 1845.^[2][3]

Of its derivatives only the oldest, privation (1290), has survived.^[3][4]

Timeline

• c. 1270 – Recorded in Anglo-Norman.^[7]
• c. 1300 – First recorded in a Romance glossary.^[2]
• 1461 – Used of removing someone from office as a punishment.^[3]
• 1538 – Se priver de appears in Robert Estienne.^[2]
• 1553 – Used of death taking a person from their family.^[3]
• 1819 – Boiste records se priver “to deny oneself”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To deprive someone of something, to take away what they have or refuse them what they hope for: la tempête a privé le village de courant.^[11][2]
2. Se priver de: to go without, to give up something: il se prive de dessert.^[11][2]
3. Se priver: to deny oneself, to make sacrifices.^[2][3]

Word family

• privation

Related words

• privé
• apprivoiser
• Latin prīvus

Usage notes

French also had from the 15th century a verb priver “to tame”, formed on privé in its sense “tame” (13th century) and recorded as a past participle about 1130; it is now archaic or literary, though still found in La Fontaine.^{[4][10][2][6]} Its pronominal se priver “to become tame” is recorded in 1753 in Buffon.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 9, 396a
6. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6758
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert