provoquer

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pʁɔ.vɔ.ke/^[1]

Forms

provoquer^[1] Old French purvoquer, purvocher (about 1120), provochier (late 12th century); provoquer from about 1265.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin prōvocō (“to call out; to challenge; to provoke; to appeal”), first adapted as purvoquer and later remodelled on the Latin.^[2][5][6] The Latin verb is formed from prō (“forth, before”) and vocō (“to call”), the source of vocation.^[2][3] Cognate with Old Occitan provocar, Spanish provocar and Italian provocare.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Oxford Psalter (about 1120) the eagle purvocanz a voler ses pulcins urges its young to fly: to incite someone by a kind of challenge or call.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

From the start it took a person as object: provoquer quelqu'un à, to urge someone to something, as in provoquer en duel (1669), and, used alone, to incite someone to violence, to irritate (about 1120).^[2][3] In law it meant to take the initiative or to appeal (1476).^[2] Rousseau (1762) used it of a woman exciting desire by her bearing, whence the modern sense of provocant (1776).^[2][5]

With a thing as object it means to be the cause of something, from the mid-15th century, especially in medicine (provoquer le sommeil, provoquer la sueur in Paré).^[2][5][7] Related words are provocateur (1501) and provocation (14th century).^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – Purvocanz in the Oxford Psalter.^[5]
• c. 1170 – To incite to violence, in the Livre des Rois.^[5]
• Mid-15th century – “To cause, bring about”.^[5][2]
• 1476 – Legal sense “to appeal”.^[2]
• 1669 – Provoquer en duel.^[2][3]
• 1762 – Rousseau: to excite desire.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To incite someone to do something, as by a challenge: provoquer quelqu'un à la violence, provoquer en duel.^[8][5]
2. To provoke, defy (someone) by aggressive words or behaviour: c'est lui qui m'a provoqué.^[8]
3. To excite (someone's) desire by one's attitude.^[8][5]
4. To cause, bring about: provoquer un accident, provoquer le sommeil.^[1][8]

Related words

• provocation
• provocateur
• vocation
• Latin prōvocō

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert