redevenir

Forms

redevenir^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French re- + devenir.^[2][3][1][4] devenir is from Latin dēveniō (“to come from”), which took the sense “to become” in Late Latin.^[5] Of the Old French verbs formed on it, such as mesdevenir (“to come to grief”), adevenir (“to happen”) and endevenir (“to become”), only this one has survived.^[6]

Littré compares Walloon ridivni.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Guillaume de Palerne, in the first half of the 13th century, in the sense “to become again”.^[2][8] Bloch and Wartburg date it to about 1200,^[5] Rey to the 12th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first sense, “to begin again to be what one had been”.^[8][9] Littré adds the sense of becoming, even for the first time, what one was in the germ.^[7] A literary use without an attribute, “to appear or exist again”, is recorded before 1945 in Valéry.^[8][2]

Timeline

• 1200–1250 – Redevenir appears in Guillaume de Palerne.^[2][8]
• 1269–1278 – The Roman de la Rose has seiche redevint l’olive.^[7]
• before 1945 – Valéry uses it without an attribute, “to appear again”.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To become again; to begin again to be what one was before: elle est redevenue calme.^[9][2][1]
2. (literary) Without an attribute, to reappear, exist again.^[2][8]

Related words

• devenir
• venir
• Latin dēveniō

Usage notes

It is conjugated like venir, with the auxiliary être.^[3][7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 60a
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert