redresser
Pronunciation
Forms
redresser[1] Old French redrecier, redrescier;[2][3] the spelling redresser appears in the 14th century.[4]
Etymology
It is from French re- + dresser (“to raise, set up straight”), formed in Old French as redrecier.[2][4][5][1] The base verb continues Vulgar Latin *directiō, from dīrēctus (“straight”), the participle of dīrigō.[6][7]
Littré lists Picard eurdrecher, Walloon ridressî, Occitan redressar and Italian ridrizzare.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is first found about 1100 in the Chanson de Roland, used reflexively for getting back on one's feet: du faldestod il se redrece en piez “he rises from the faldstool to his feet”.[8][3]
Semantic evolution
The physical sense “to set upright again” was soon matched by moral ones: “to bring someone back to the right path” (1174–1176, Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence) and “to raise up spiritually” (late 13th century).[8] “To straighten what is bent or twisted” is found in Chrétien de Troyes (1176–1181), and “to correct what is false or unjust” about 1280, first in the context of feudal law;[8][4][5] redresser les torts is recorded by the Académie in 1798.[8][4][5]
Reflexive se redresser, of a person, came to mean “to hold oneself very straight” (1674), with figurative uses of pride.[5] In aviation the verb means to pull up the nose of an aeroplane (1920), and in the 20th century it was applied to restoring a difficult situation (1939); slang used it for “to look at” (1911) and “to recognise, identify” (1926).[8][5]
Timeline
- c. 1100 – Se redrecier in the Chanson de Roland.[8]
- 1174–1176 – “To turn someone from sin”, in Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence.[8]
- 1176–1181 – “To straighten something bent”, in Chrétien de Troyes.[8]
- c. 1280 – “To correct what is wrong”, in the Clef d'Amors.[8][4]
- 1559 – Amyot writes of setting statues upright again.[8]
- 1798 – The Académie records redresser les torts.[4]
- 1920 – The aviation sense.[8][5]
Meanings
Verb
- To set upright again, to raise to a vertical position: redresser un piquet, redresser la tête, to hold one's head up, to stop submitting.[9][8]
- To straighten what is bent or twisted: redresser une tige de fer.[8][9]
- (aviation) To pull up the nose of an aircraft, (driving) to straighten the wheels after a turn.[9][8]
- To put right, to restore a situation: redresser l'économie, redresser la barre, to take things in hand again.[8][1]
- To rectify, correct: redresser une erreur, redresser les torts, to right wrongs.[8][4]
- Se redresser: to stand or sit up straight; to recover.[1][5]
Word family
- redressement
- redresseur
- redressage
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 84a
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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
- ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert