répondeur

Forms

répondeur (feminine répondeuse, masculine plural répondeurs, feminine plural répondeuses)^[1] Old French respondeor and respondeur; the spelling répondeur is a 13th-century remaking.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French répondre + -eur.^[4][5][3] Old French had the forms respondeor and respondeur from the late 12th century.^[2][3] The verb, first respondre (about 980), comes from a variant of Latin respondeō (“to answer”) in popular speech, with a short ⟨e⟩ in place of the classical long one.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is first found in Chrétien de Troyes's Cligès (1176) as respondeor “one who gives an answer”: Mes ne trueve respondeor (“but he finds no one to answer him”).^[4] The Old French Dialogues of Pope Gregory, of the late 12th century, have it in the same sense.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the word named a person who answers, and also, from 1277, a defender.^[2][5][7] This use died out.^[2]

It was taken up again in the 19th century as an adjective for someone who answers back stubbornly and rudely when reproached: George Sand has the feminine répondeuse in 1855, and the masculine is recorded by Larousse in 1878.^[4][2][3]

In the 20th century the noun was given to devices: first a radio transmitter-receiver fitted to aircraft (1949), used to tell friendly planes from enemy ones, then the telephone answering machine (1963), which plays a message to the caller and records one.^[4][2][3]

Timeline

• 1176 – Respondeor “one who answers” appears in Chrétien de Troyes's Cligès.^[4]
• 1277 – It is used in the sense “defender”.^[5][7]
• 13th century – The form répondeur appears.^[2][3]
• 1855 – George Sand uses the feminine adjective répondeuse “answering back rudely”.^[4][2]
• 1878 – Larousse records the masculine adjective.^[4][3]
• 1949 – Larousse records the noun for an aircraft transmitter-receiver.^[4][3]
• 1963 – First record of the telephone answering machine sense.^[2][3][7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (familiar) Given to answering back, replying impertinently to orders and reproaches: un garçon répondeur.^[7][8][3]

Noun

1. An answering machine, a device linked to or built into a telephone that answers calls and records messages when no one picks up: laisser un message sur le répondeur.^[7][9][8]
2. (aviation) A transponder fitted to aircraft, telling friendly planes from enemy ones.^[3][4][1]
3. (obsolete) A person who gives an answer.^[6][2]

Related words

• répondre
• répondant
• Latin respondeō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)