Etymologically
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réfléchir

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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
  • 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