recouvrer

Forms

recouvrer^[1] Old French recovrer (about 1050) and recuvrer (1080); recouvrer is a remodelling of the late 12th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French recovrer, inherited from Latin recuperō (“to regain possession of”).^[4][2][5][1] It is the popular doublet of récupérer, which was borrowed from the same Latin verb.^[2][1] Rey analyses the Latin verb as the prefix re- with an extended present stem ⟨caper-⟩, making it a doublet of recipiō, the source of recevoir.^[2]

From the 13th to the 18th century it was often confused with recouvrir “to cover again”.^[4][5]

Cognate with Italian ricoverare, Occitan recobrar and Spanish recobrar.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as recovrer in the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050), meaning “to find”.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

From “to find” the verb soon meant “to acquire, obtain something one did not have” (Chanson de Roland, about 1100); this sense, and “to obtain again” (13th century), died out after the classical period.^[4][2] The etymological sense, “to get back what one had lost”, also in the Roland, took hold and made recouvrer the literary equivalent of récupérer.^[4][2]

It spread in the phrase recouvrer la santé (late 13th century) and, in finance, “to collect a sum due” (1636), especially taxes.^[4][2] Until the 17th century the usual past participle was recouvert; the Académie in 1694 called it old except in the proverb pour un perdu, deux recouverts, and recouvré replaced it, avoiding the clash with recouvrir.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Recovrer “to find” in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[4]
• c. 1100 – Recuvrer “to obtain” and “to get back” in the Chanson de Roland.^[4][6]
• c. 1145 – Wace uses it in the sense “to restore”.^[4]
• late 13th century – Recouvrer la santé in Sone de Nansai.^[4]
• 1636 – Monet records the sense “to collect taxes”.^[4][3]
• 1694 – The Académie calls the participle recouvert old.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (literary) To recover, to get back possession of something lost: recouvrer son bien, recouvrer la santé, recouvrer la vue.^[7][1][4]
2. To collect a sum owed: recouvrer une dette, recouvrer l'impôt.^[7][4]

Word family

• recouvrable
• recouvrement

Related words

• récupérer
• recouvrance
• Latin recuperō

Usage notes

Its forms are easily confused with those of recouvrir “to cover again”: il recouvre belongs to both verbs, but the past participle of recouvrer is recouvré, of recouvrir recouvert.^[7][2] Its derivatives recouvrement and recouvrable are likewise homonyms of derivatives of recouvrir.^[2]

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b 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 j k l m n 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 Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert