réfléchir

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʁe.fle.ʃiʁ/^[1]

Forms

réfléchir^[1] Reflekir (late 12th century), reflechir (about 1278), Old Burgundian reflenchir; the Académie wrote refleschir in 1694 and 1718, réfléchir from 1740.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin reflectō (“to bend back; to turn back; to turn one's mind to”), adapted after fléchir.^{[3][2][4][5][1][6]} The Latin verb is formed from re- (“back”) and flectō (“to bend”); in Medieval Latin it also meant to reflect, of a mirror (about 1240).^[3][2] The sense “to think” goes back to Latin “reflectere animum” “to turn the mind back”.^[7][8]

Compare Old Occitan reflectir, Spanish reflectir and Italian riflettere.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

At the end of the 12th century reflekir, in the Dialogues of Gregory, means to direct the eye or the mind; in Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose (1269–78) reflechir is to send back by reflection.^[5][2][3]

Semantic evolution

In anatomy se reflechir meant to bend back on itself (Henri de Mondeville, 1314), a use that lasted into the 16th century (Paré).^[3][7][8] The optical sense grew in importance in the 17th century with the science of optics, and it was applied to sound in 1718.^[2]

The intellectual sense, “to think carefully”, is found in Bossuet (1672), after an isolated se reflechir “to meditate” (1609); Bouhours still preferred faire réflexion.^[3][8][2] It spread in the 18th century to become the main sense, with réfléchir sur (1675) and réfléchir à (1701).^[2] Verbes réfléchis (reflexive verbs) is a grammatical term from 1701.^[3]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – Reflekir, to direct the mind.^[5]
• 1269–78 – Optical sense, Jean de Meun.^[3]
• 1314 – In anatomy, Henri de Mondeville.^[3]
• 1609 – Se reflechir, to meditate.^[3]
• 1672 – “To think carefully”, Bossuet.^[3]
• 1701 – Verbes réfléchis.^[3]
• 1786 – Irréfléchi.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To reflect, send back light, an image or sound: le miroir réfléchit l'image, se réfléchir, to be reflected.^[9][5][1]
2. (intransitive) To think, ponder: réfléchir avant d'agir, réfléchir à, sur, cela donne à réfléchir.^[9][1][2]
3. Réfléchir que: to consider, realize that.^[1][2]
4. Tout bien réfléchi: all things considered.^[1][2]

Word family

• réfléchi
• réfléchissant
• réfléchissement
• irréfléchi

Related words

• reflet
• fléchir
• réflexion
• réflexe
• Latin reflectō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 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
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 190a
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert