réprimer

Forms

réprimer^[1] 13th-century repremer.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin reprimō (“to drive back, hold back, restrain”), first recorded at the end of the 13th century.^[4][5][1] The Latin verb is formed with re- (“back”) and premō (“to press”).^[5][6][7] Littré notes that an inherited form would have developed like empreindre from imprimō, so the French verb reproduces the Latin word.^[7] Compare Old Occitan repremer, recorded from the 13th to the 15th century,^[4] Spanish reprimir and Italian reprimere.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, at the end of the 13th century in a translation of the De arte venandi, has the sense “to hold in check what is excessive”.^[4][5] In 1314 the surgeon Henri de Mondeville uses it for reducing the sensitivity of a nerve.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

The surgical use of Mondeville did not last.^[5] From the middle of the 14th century the verb was in general use, in Bersuire's translation of Livy, for keeping a passion or a condemnable tendency from showing itself and for stopping troublemakers by force (about 1355).^[4][5] Oresme speaks of temperance reprimant les passions (1370–1372).^[7][4]

A later medical use, “to stop the action or progress of something”, appears about 1560.^[5] From the 16th to the 18th century it could also take a person as object; the dictionaries still recorded this in the 19th century.^[5] In present-day French the sense of putting down disorder is tied to répression and répressif, and the verb, often suggesting police violence, is less common than the noun.^[5]

Timeline

• Late 13th century – First recorded, “to hold in check what is excessive”.^[4]
• 1314 – Henri de Mondeville uses it in surgery.^[4][8]
• c. 1355 – Bersuire uses it for restraining passions and putting down unrest.^[5][6]
• 1370–1372 – Oresme uses it of the passions.^[4]
• c. 1560 – A medical sense “to stop the progress of” appears.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hold back a feeling or an impulse, to keep it from showing: réprimer un sourire.^[3][4][1]
2. To put down or suppress something seen as wrong or dangerous, especially by force: réprimer une émeute.^[3][1][7]
3. (dated, medicine) To check the effect or progress of something.^[4][3][7]
4. Se réprimer: to restrain oneself.^[7]

Related words

• répressif
• répression
• presser
• imprimer
• Latin reprimō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France