réciter

Forms

réciter^[1] Written reciter until the accent was introduced in the 17th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin recitō (“to read aloud (a law, a deed), to read one's own work in public”),^[4][2][1][5] formed from re-, an intensive prefix, and citō (“to call, summon”), the source of citer.^[4][2][6] Bloch and Wartburg note that the noun récitation was borrowed from recitatio.^[7]

Compare Old Occitan recitar.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1150 in Wace's Vie de saint Nicolas, in the Latin sense “to read aloud”, which was still alive in the 17th century.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

The Roman de la Rose (1269–1278) has it for “to report someone's words”, and in the same text for “to relate in detail” and “to say aloud”.^[4][2][3] The senses “to relate” and “to quote, report orally” went out of use in the 18th century, in spite of the support of the noun récit.^[2][7]

The modern sense, “to say from memory”, is recorded by Palsgrave in 1530,^[4][7] and it was used absolutely from 1688, in La Bruyère.^[2][3] An intransitive use for “to declaim, to act” (1663) disappeared after the classical period.^[2] In music it has meant “to sing a recitative” since Rousseau (1768).^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1150 – Wace uses reciter for “to read aloud”.^[4]
• 1269–1278 – The Roman de la Rose uses it for “to report someone's words”.^[4]
• 1530 – Palsgrave records the sense “to say from memory”.^[4][7]
• 1663 – Used intransitively for “to declaim, act”.^[2]
• 1688 – La Bruyère uses it absolutely.^[2]
• 1768 – Rousseau uses it in music.^[4]
• 1771 – The derivative récitant is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To say aloud something learned by heart, to recite: Le garçon récite une fable devant la classe.^[9][10][11]
2. To say something mechanically, without sincerity or truth.^[9][10]
3. (music) To sing a recitative.^[9][4]
4. (dated) To relate, narrate a story or an event.^[4][8]

Word family

• récit
• récitant

Related words

• citer
• récitation
• Latin recitō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 150b
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)