régénérer

Forms

régénérer^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin regenerō (“to bring back to life, reproduce”), a verb of imperial Latin that in Church Latin and the Vulgate meant “to bring to new spiritual life”.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The Latin verb is formed from re- and generō (“to beget, produce”), which comes from genus (“origin, birth”).^[3][7][8] It is related to générer.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) uses it in the religious sense, “to bring to new life” through baptism: “De saint batesme l'unt fait regenerer” (“they had him born again by holy baptism”).^[8][2]

Semantic evolution

The religious sense was the dominant one in the Middle Ages, and Old French texts use it for baptism.^[4][8] The medical sense, to reconstitute a destroyed part of a living being, is found in the translation of Lanfranc's Surgery (1377),^[2][3] and Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1314; the pronominal se régénérer appears in Paré (1561), who says that teeth can regenerate.^[2][8]

The figurative sense, to renew by giving back lost qualities, is found once about 1210 but is rare before Mercier (1782);^[2][3] the pronominal se régénérer “to renew oneself” follows in 1789, apparently after régénération.^[3][2] Littré gives it as “to reform, improve”, as of a people.^[8] In technology it is used of restoring a catalyst by removing its impurities.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – The Vie de saint Alexis uses it of baptism.^[2][8]
• c. 1210 – An isolated figurative use in Folque de Candie.^[2]
• 1314 – A medical use, according to Bloch and Wartburg.^[4]
• 1377 – The translation of Lanfranc's Surgery uses it of tissue.^[2][3]
• 1561 – Paré uses se régénérer of teeth.^[2][8]
• 1782 – Mercier uses it figuratively.^[2][3]
• 1789 – Se régénérer “to renew oneself” in Le Moniteur.^[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (biology) To reconstitute a destroyed tissue or part of a living being; also se régénérer, to grow back: Chez la salamandre, une patte coupée se régénère.^[9][2][7]
2. (religion) To bring to new spiritual life, to cause to be born again.^[9][2][7]
3. To renew by restoring lost qualities;^[9][2][8] se régénérer, to renew oneself.^[9][2][8]
4. (technology) To reactivate a catalyst or other substance by removing impurities.^[9]

Word family

• régénération
• régénérateur
• régénératif
• régénérescence

Related words

• générer
• Latin regenerō

References

1. ^ a b 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 c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 204a
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert