Etymologically
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provoquer

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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]
  • 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