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rêver

Etymology and origin of the French word rêver

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Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1130, Anglo-Norman Lapidaries

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁɛ.ve/[1]
  • IPA: /ʁe.ve/[1]

Forms

rêver[1] Old French resver, rever; the Académie wrote resver until 1718 and rêver from 1740.[2][3]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.[2][3][1] The first syllable is the prefix re-;[3] Wartburg (FEW) takes the rest from an unattested Old French verb “*esver” “to wander”, also behind desver (“to lose one's mind”) and modern endêver,[2][3][4][5] from a Gallo-Roman “*esvo” “vagabond”, from a popular Latin Vulgar Latin *exvagus, built on Latin vagus (“wandering”).[3][4][6] P. Guiraud proposed instead a Latin “*reexvadere”, from ēvādō (“to escape”), dreaming being an escape from reality.[2][3] Rey calls both hypotheses ingenious but unverifiable.[3]

Littré considered English rave a borrowing from the French verb.[7] Wiktionary compares Old English rǣswan (“to consider, conjecture”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Anglo-Norman Lapidaries (about 1130) use resver for being delirious with illness;[2][3] about 1240 it means “to talk nonsense” (reever).[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old and Middle French the verb chiefly meant “to wander about for pleasure, roam” (Jean de Meun, 1269–1278), and in 1491 “to go about in disguise at carnival”.[2][3][4] The sense “to rave, be delirious” lasted into the 17th century (Madame de Sévigné's rêver sans fièvre).[4][6]

In the 16th century it turned to “to let one's thoughts wander” (Ronsard, 1552) and then to “to think about, ponder” (d'Aubigné, Larivey's je vas resvant si... of 1579).[2][8] Régnier (1606) uses it for desiring something ardently.[2] The modern sense “to have dreams in sleep” emerged in the 17th century, transitively in Corneille (1640) and absolutely in Descartes (1649), and replaced songer in this use;[2][3] the noun rêve (1680) arose with it.[4][2]

Timeline

  • c. 1130 – Resver “to be delirious”.[2]
  • c. 1240 – “To talk nonsense”.[2]
  • 1269–1278 – “To roam for pleasure” in Jean de Meun.[2]
  • 1552 – “To muse” in Ronsard.[2]
  • 1606 – “To long for” in Régnier.[2]
  • 1640 – “To see in a dream” in Corneille.[2]
  • 1649 – “To dream in sleep” in Descartes.[2]
  • 1680 – The noun rêve.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To dream (in sleep): rêver de qqn.[9][10]
  2. To daydream, let one's mind wander: rêver au lieu d'écouter.[9][11]
  3. Rêver de: to long for: rêver de voyages.[9][2]
  4. To imagine, invent: tu as rêvé ça !, on croit rêver: it's unbelievable.[12][9]
  5. (dated) To be delirious; to talk nonsense: vous rêvez !.[9][6]

Word family

  • rêvasser
  • rêve
  • rêverie
  • rêveur
  • rêve
  • rêverie
  • rêveur
  • rêvasser
  • songer
  • endêver
  • vague

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 q r s 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 j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 184b
  6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
Cite this entry

“Rêver.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/r%C3%AAver. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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