répondant

Forms

répondant m (plural répondants)^[1] Old and Middle French respondant; the Académie wrote respondant in 1694 and 1718, and ré- from 1740.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is the present participle of the verb used as a noun, from French répondre.^{[5][6][7][8][2]} The verb goes back to Latin respondeō (“to answer”).^[9][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The GLLF and the DHLF date the noun from about 1220, in the sense of a person who stands surety for someone; the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert give 1255.^[5][6][7][8] A 13th-century Saint Graal quoted by Littré has s'on respondant ne li bailloit “if one did not give him a guarantor”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle French it was used for a guarantor, beside plege, in the Châtelet's criminal register of 1389–1392.^[3] From 1690 it named the candidate who defended a thesis and answered the objections, and since 1731 the server who makes the responses at Mass.^[8][6] Egyptologists used it for the figurine meant to answer for the dead person in the afterlife, translating the Egyptian name of the shabti.^[6][10]

In familiar French avoir du répondant meant having money as a guarantee (before 1922, Proust) and was said figuratively of a plump woman (1936, Céline).^[6][5] It is now also used of a ready wit in reply.^[8][1] In sociology the word names a person who answers a survey.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1220 – First recorded for a guarantor.^[5][6]
• 1389–1392 – The Châtelet's criminal register pairs plege et respondant.^[3]
• 1690 – Used of the defender of a thesis.^[8][6]
• 1731 – Used of the server at Mass.^[8][6]
• 1740 – The Académie spells it répondant.^[4]
• before 1922 – Proust uses avoir du répondant of money.^[5][6]
• 1936 – Céline uses avoir du répondant of a plump woman.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who stands guarantor or surety for someone: servir de répondant à un ami.^[8][4][2]
2. Avoir du répondant: to have financial backing or guarantees; also, to have a good sense of repartee.^{[8][10][4][1]}
3. (sociology) A respondent to a survey or opinion poll.^[4]
4. (historical) The candidate who defended a thèse and answered the objections.^[8][4][2]
5. (Catholicism, dated) The server who makes the responses at Mass.^[8][4][5]
6. (Egyptology) A funerary figurine, the shabti.^[10][6]

Related words

• répondre
• réponse
• répons
• Latin respondeō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert 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, 311b
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)