recevoir

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʁə.sə.vwaʁ/^[1]

Forms

recevoir^[1] Old French infinitive receivre (late 10th century), reçoivre, receveir (1080), recivoir (about 1200) and recevoir (1273) were made on recevons, as avoir on avons.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French receivre, inherited from Latin recipiō (“to take back; to accept, welcome”), from re- and capiō (“to take, seize”).^{[5][2][4][6][1]} The modern infinitive replaced the regular “receivre”, which kept the Latin stress on “-ci-”.^[2][7] English receive was borrowed from Anglo-Norman.^[1]

Cognate with Italian ricevere, Occitan recebre, Catalan rebre, Spanish recibir and Portuguese receber.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the second half of the 10th century in the Vie de saint Léger as reciwre, meaning “to accept someone, let someone in”.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

About 1050 it meant “to take what is offered” and in 1155 “to receive (baptism)”; in the Chanson de Roland it is “to suffer (blows)” and “to accept (a law)”.^[5] About 1145 Wace used it for welcoming someone in a certain way.^[5][2] Later developments include receiving visits (1727), entertaining guests (1798) and admitting a candidate to an examination.^[5][2][9] Idée reçue “received idea” belongs to the sense “to accept as true”.^[1][5] Derivatives include recette and receveur (12th century), recevable (13th century) and reçu (1611).^[4]

Timeline

• Late 10th century – Reciwre in the Vie de saint Léger.^[5]
• c. 1050 – “To take what is offered”, in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[5]
• c. 1100 – Receivre blows, in the Chanson de Roland.^[5]
• c. 1145 – “To welcome”, in Wace.^[5]
• 1273 – The infinitive recevoir.^[10]
• 1611 – Reçu “receipt”.^[4]
• 1798 – Absolute recevoir “to entertain”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To receive, get: recevoir une lettre, recevoir un prix.^[9][1]
2. To suffer, sustain: recevoir un coup.^[5]
3. To welcome, entertain: recevoir des amis, (absolute) to have guests.^[1][2]
4. To admit: être reçu à un examen.^[9]
5. To accept as true: une idée reçue.^[1][5]
6. (of a place) To hold, accommodate.^[9]

Word family

• recette
• recevable
• irrecevable
• receveur
• reçu

Related words

• réceptacle
• récepteur
• réceptif
• réception
• récipient
• Latin recipiō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 145a
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert