procurer

Forms

procurer^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin prōcūrō (“to take care of, attend to”), borrowed at the end of the 12th century,^[2][3][4] from prō- and cūrō (“to take care of”), from cūra (“care”).^[2][3][5] Wiktionary gives the Late Latin verb the sense “to manage, administer”.^[1]

Cognate with Old Occitan procurar, Spanish procurar and Italian procurare.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in Deu le Omnipotent (late 12th century), has the Latin sense “to take care of”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word moved away from its Latin sense: “to take care of”, replaced by soigner and s'occuper de, died out in the 17th century, continued by “to obtain a result by one's efforts” (Nicot, 1606), which survives in the scholarly procurer une édition (1720).^[3][2] In Middle French procurer quelqu'un meant “to serve, receive, lodge” (about 1278) and “to supply with something” (13th century), and, linked with procuration and procurateur, “to plead on someone's behalf”, a sense already old by the end of the 13th century.^[3]

The modern sense, already in Old French, stresses causing a disadvantage (about 1278) or an advantage, and concretely getting a thing for someone (Jean de Meun, 1269–78).^[3][2] Bloch and Wartburg date this sense to the 15th century.^[4] The English verb procure (about 1300) came from Old French procurer and directly from Late Latin.^[7]

Timeline

• late 12th century – First record, meaning “to take care of”.^[2][4]
• 1262 – Procurer que “to see to it that” is recorded.^[2]
• 1269–78 – Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose uses it for getting something for someone.^[2]
• 1606 – Nicot records the sense “to obtain by one's efforts”.^[2][3]
• 1720 – Procurer une édition appears.^[2][3]
• 1840 – Landais records the derivative procureuse.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (dated) To obtain a result by one's care;^[8][2] (scholarly) procurer une édition: to prepare and see an edition through publication.^[8][2]
2. To get something useful or pleasant for someone; to provide, supply: elle lui a procuré un logement.^[8][1][6]
3. Se procurer: to obtain something for oneself: se procurer un billet de train.^[8][6]
4. Of things: to bring about, cause: ce voyage lui a procuré beaucoup de joie.^[6][9]

Word family

• procureur
• procureuse

Related words

• procuration
• procurateur
• cure¹
• Latin prōcūrō
• English procure

References

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