Etymologically
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recouvrir

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁə.ku.vʁiʁ/[1]

Forms

recouvrir[1] Old French recovrir (about 1130); recouvrir from the late 12th century.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from French re- + couvrir.[4][3][2] The verb couvrir continues Latin cooperiō (“to cover completely”), formed on operiō (“to cover”); the Romance languages all dropped the simple verb in favour of the more forceful compound.[5][6] Cognate with Old Occitan recobrir and Italian ricoprire.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Roman d'Eneas (about 1160) the pronominal verb means to cover oneself again.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

From about 1160–74 (Wace) it also meant to cover completely.[4][2] At the end of the 13th century it took the figurative sense of hiding something under deceptive appearances, as in Flaubert's la distinction du jeune praticien recouvrait une intelligence des plus pauvres.[2] In 1949 Simone de Beauvoir uses it for corresponding exactly to something, a sense used of a word or notion that covers a range of meanings.[4][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1130 – Recovrir.[2][3]
  • c. 1160 – “To cover oneself again”, in the Roman d'Eneas.[4]
  • 1160–74 – Wace: “to cover completely”.[4]
  • Late 13th century – “To hide, mask”.[2]
  • 1949 – Beauvoir: “to correspond exactly to”.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To cover again; to put a new covering on: recouvrir un fauteuil, un livre; to cover up (a child in bed).[9][1]
  2. To cover completely: la neige recouvre le sol.[9][1]
  3. (figurative) To hide, mask.[2][9]
  4. Of a notion, to coincide with, cover the same range as.[4][8]
  5. Se recouvrir: to overlap.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ 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. 2, 1143a
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert