réconcilier

Forms

réconcilier^[1] Old French reconciliier, reconsillier.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin reconciliō (“to restore, to bring back, to reconcile”).^[2][3][4] The Latin verb is formed from re- (“again”) and conciliō (“to unite, to associate”), the source of concilier.^[3][5] The liturgical sense follows Medieval Latin reconciliō (“to consecrate a profaned church again”) (late 8th century).^[2][3]

Cognate with Italian riconciliare, Spanish reconciliar and Occitan reconciliar.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Roman de Troie (about 1165), reflexive, meaning to make friends again: Nos devrions bien racorder O eus e reconciliier “we ought to come to terms and be reconciled with them”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages the transitive verb was mainly religious: to bring a sinner back to God (Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence, about 1190) and to bless again a church or churchyard that had been profaned (Beaumanoir, 1283).^[2][3][4] The ordinary sense “to restore harmony between people” is recorded in 1253 and became common from the late 13th century.^[2][7][3]

In the 17th century it was extended to things: Voiture wrote of fortune wishing to be reconciled with us (1634), Racine of reconciling tragedy with its critics (1677), and in 1668 it was said of colours.^[2] Se réconcilier avec soi-même is in Fénelon.^[2][3] Réconcilier quelqu'un avec la vie dates from Chateaubriand (1810), and Michelet used réconcilier contre for uniting people against a common enemy (1831).^[2][3]

Timeline

• c. 1165 – Reflexive reconciliier in the Roman de Troie.^[2]
• c. 1190 – Used of bringing a sinner back to God.^[3]
• 1253 – Transitive “to restore concord” in a customary of Artois.^[2][7]
• 1283 – Beaumanoir uses it of blessing a profaned place again.^[2]
• 1668 – Said of harmonizing colours.^[2]
• 1810 – Chateaubriand writes réconcilier avec la vie.^[2]
• 1831 – Michelet uses it for uniting against a common enemy.^[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To reconcile, to bring together people who had fallen out: réconcilier deux voisins.^[7][8][9]
2. (reflexive) Se réconcilier: to make it up, to be reconciled: Elles se sont réconciliées.^[7][1]
3. To make someone think better of something or someone.^[6][2]
4. To make agree, to harmonize things that seemed opposed.^[6][5]
5. (Catholic liturgy) To readmit to the Church, to absolve, also to bless a profaned church again.^[7][6]
6. (accounting) To reconcile, to match up.^[1]

Word family

• réconciliable

Related words

• concilier
• irréconciliable
• Latin reconciliō

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 n o p 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)