publier

Forms

publier^[1] Old French puplier, poplier, puepleer (1272), pueplier (1283), beside publiier.^[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin pūblicō (“to make public property, to show to the public, to publish (a book)”), from pūblicus (“public”), with the ending adapted to French.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary instead treats it as inherited, and the REW lists it among the outcomes of the Latin verb.^[1][6] The Old French forms with ⟨p⟩ in the middle and ⟨eu⟩ were altered after peuple; the form with ⟨b⟩ is found from the second half of the 13th century and won out.^[2][3] The Petit Robert notes that the Latin adjective is of obscure origin and unrelated to populus (“people”), though the two influenced each other in Latin and in French.^[7]

Cognate with Italian pubblicare, Occitan publicar, Catalan publicar, Spanish publicar, Portuguese publicar and Romanian publica.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Chrétien de Troyes's Cligès (about 1176) the agreement the emperor had made s’est ja tant dit et puepleié, “has already been so much told and spread abroad”: the verb means to make known to all.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The general sense “to make known, spread about” has aged, except in the special sense “to announce officially”, of a law, a decree or banns (about 1265).^[3][4] In the 13th century it could also mean to put up for public sale or to confiscate as public property.^[8][5]

Guiart used it about 1307 of a written work made known to the public;^[3][4] Montaigne used it of an author bringing out his own work (1580 in the GLLF and the BHVF, about 1590 in the TLFi),^[4][9][2] From 1829 it also meant “to edit, issue” of a publisher.^[3] Several old senses have gone: “to confess publicly” (late 12th century), “to spread someone's fame” (about 1300), se publier “to give oneself away” (1580) and “to praise, extol” (Malherbe, 17th century).^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1176 – Chrétien de Troyes writes the participle puepleié.^[2]
• c. 1265 – The Livre de jostice uses it for an official announcement.^[4][3]
• c. 1307 – Guiart uses it of a written work.^[4][3]
• 1580 – Montaigne uses it of publishing a book.^[4][9]
• 1639 – The derivative publiable is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1829 – It takes the sense “to edit, issue”.^[3]
• 1931 – Paul Valéry uses it without an object, of an author.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (dated) To make known to the public by speech or writing; to proclaim, spread about.^[7][2]
2. To announce officially, issue (a law, a decree, banns).^[7][8][2]
3. To publish (a text); of an author or publisher, to bring out a book or article.^[7][10][2]
4. (intransitive) To publish one's work.^[7][4]

Word family

• publiable
• republier

Related words

• public
• publication
• Latin pūblicō

References

1. ^ a b c 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 j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)