réitérer

Forms

réitérer^[1] Old French rëiterer, rëitrer.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin reiterō (“to renew, repeat”),^{[3][4][5][6][1]} formed with the intensive prefix re- on Latin iterō (“to do again, repeat”), from iterum (“again”).^[4][7][8][9] Rey suggests the verb may also have been formed from the past participle réitéré, borrowed the same year from reiteratus.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the surgery of H. de Mondeville (1314), meaning “to do again”: ainsi soit ce reiteré trois fois ou quatre “and let this be done again three or four times”.^[3][10][2]

Semantic evolution

Froissart used it in 1373 for repeating words or an order.^[3] It was long a word of legal and administrative language, and later of the sciences.^[8] Its family grew in the same registers: réitération (1419, reiteracion), réitératif (1413, of a renewed legal act) and réitérable (1581, Montaigne).^[8][3][6]

Timeline

• 1314 – H. de Mondeville's surgery has rëiterer “to do again”.^[3]
• 1373 – Froissart uses it for “to repeat”.^[3]
• 1413 – Réitératif is recorded.^[3]
• 1419 – Reiteracion is recorded.^[8][6]
• 1581 – Montaigne has réitérable.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To do again, to repeat, to reiterate: réitérer une question, réitérer un ordre.^[5][3][7][1]
2. (intransitive) To do it again, especially to reoffend (compare récidiver).^[5][3]
3. (reflexive) Se réitérer: to be repeated.^[10]

Word family

• réitératif

Related words

• itératif
• réitération
• Latin iterum
• English reiterate

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 227a
10. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette