Etymologically
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reconnaître

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁə.kɔ.nɛtʁ/[1]

Forms

reconnaître[1] Old French reconoistre; the Académie wrote reconnoistre in 1694 and 1718, reconnoître from 1740 to 1798 and reconnaître since 1835.[2][3] The 1990 spelling reform allows reconnaitre.[1][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French reconoistre, inherited from Latin recognōscō (“to recall; to review, inspect; to revise”), which developed in parallel with the simple verb connaître.[3][5][2][6] It is formed from re-, with its sense of repetition, and cognōscō (“to get to know”).[3][7] In Late Latin it also meant “to know, understand” and “to confess a fault”, and feudal Latin used it for acknowledging a fief or a lord's rights (1063, 1102).[3]

Cognate with Italian riconoscere and Spanish reconocer.[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Passion de Clermont (late 10th century) uses it of the holy women recognizing Christ: Dunc reconnossent lo senior, si l'adorent cum redemptor (“then they recognize the Lord and worship him as redeemer”); the same text has the sense “to admit a fault”, of Peter.[2]

Semantic evolution

In the Chanson de Roland one knight recognizes Roland by his fierce face, and reconoistre sun tort is “to admit one's wrong”; the same poem has the feudal reconoistre sun feu “to do homage for one's fief”.[2] Wace (1160–1174) uses it for accepting someone as lord, and Chrétien de Troyes (about 1170) for admitting that someone spoke the truth.[2] The reflexive se reconnaître meant “to confess one's sin” very early, then “to find one's bearings” (about 1165), “to come to one's senses” (about 1276) and, before 1784 in Diderot, “to see oneself in someone”.[2][3]

The military sense “to reconnoitre” appears in Thevet in 1557, earlier than the 1580s dates (Montaigne, La Noue) given by the TLFi and the GLLF; the navy's reconnaître la côte follows in 1664.[8][2][7] In law it came to mean admitting officially the existence of something (1539, recognoistre la debte).[3] The sense “to show gratitude” (13th century) took root mainly in the derivatives reconnaissance and reconnaissant.[3] Madame de Sévigné has je te reconnais bien là in 1671, and il faut reconnaître que is recorded from 1908.[3][7]

Timeline

  • late 10th century – Reconnostre in the Passion de Clermont.[2]
  • c. 1100 – “To admit (a wrong)” and “to do homage for” in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • c. 1165 – Se reconnaître “to find one's bearings”, in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.[2]
  • 1539 – Legal acknowledgement of a debt.[3]
  • 1557 – “To reconnoitre”, in Thevet.[8]
  • 1664 – Reconnoître la côte, in naval use.[2]
  • 1835 – The Académie adopts the spelling reconnaître.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To recognize someone or something already known: je l'ai tout de suite reconnu.[9][10]
  2. To identify by a sign or feature: reconnaître quelqu'un à sa voix.[11][9]
  3. To admit, acknowledge as true: reconnaître ses torts, il faut reconnaître que….[1][3]
  4. (law) To recognize officially: reconnaître un enfant, reconnaître un gouvernement.[1][3]
  5. (military) To reconnoitre a place or the enemy's position.[2][3]
  6. Se reconnaître: to find one's bearings; to see oneself (in someone or something).[3]
  7. (literary) To show gratitude for (a kindness).[3]

Word family

  • reconnaissance
  • reconnaissant
  • reconnaissable

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 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 k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 155b
  7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette