récréer

Forms

récréer^[1] Old French recrier (from about 1155), then recreer (13th–14th century); the spelling récréer is found from 1501.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin recreō (“to make again, revive, restore”).^[4][2][5][1] The Latin verb is formed from re-, with iterative force, and creō (“to create, produce”).^[2][3][6] The earliest form, recrier, was more fully adapted to French; it was remade as recreer after the Latin word.^[2][5][7]

Littré compares Occitan recrear, Spanish recrear and Italian ricreare.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1155 in Wace's Brut as the reflexive sei recrïer, meaning “to revive, to cheer up”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

French did not keep the Latin sense “create anew”: that meaning was taken over later by recréer, the prefixed form of créer.^[2] The reflexive verb meant “to amuse oneself” from the 12th century, and the transitive verb “to amuse, divert” from the late 12th or early 13th century.^[2][4] A second sense, “to make a pleasant, refreshing impression on the senses”, appeared about 1220 and is now only literary.^[2][3][4]

In the sense “to amuse”, the verb has had to compete with distraire, amuser and divertir and is far less common than its derivative récréation.^[2] Oresme used recreer in the 14th century for refreshing oneself, and Rabelais has Pantagruel walking to se recreer de son estude “to relax from his study”.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1155 – Wace uses the reflexive sei recrïer “to revive, cheer up”.^[4]
• c. 1220 – First recorded in the sense “to make a pleasant impression on the senses”.^[3][8]
• early 13th century – Transitive recrier “to divert, amuse” in the Reclus de Molliens.^[4][3]
• c. 1350 – The form recreer appears in the poems of Gilles li Muisis.^[4]
• 14th century – Oresme uses recreer in his translation of Aristotle's Ethics.^[5][6]
• 1487 – The derivative récréatif is recorded.^[5]
• 1501 – The spelling récréer is first found.^[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (literary) To refresh or cheer; to make a pleasant, invigorating impression on: la musique récrée l’âme.^[4][3]
2. (literary, rare) To amuse or divert someone, to give them relaxation: elle récréait ses invités par des chansons.^[4][9]
3. Se récréer: to relax, to enjoy oneself: il se récrée en lisant.^[4][9][6]

Word family

• récréatif
• récréation

Related words

• recréer
• créer
• Latin recreō

Usage notes

Récréer “to amuse” is distinct from recréer “to create again”, written without an accent.^[2]

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 d e f g 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 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. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 161b
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert