rejeter

Forms

rejeter^[1] Old French regieter (1176–1181), regeter;^[2][3] Middle French regetter, rejetter, rejecter.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French regeter, inherited from Latin rēiectō (“to throw back; to repel; to vomit”), a frequentative from the supine of reiciō (“to throw back”), derived according to the TLFi from iactō (“to throw”), the source of jeter.^{[2][4][5][1][6]} In Latin it first meant “to send back, echo” (of sounds) and took the senses “to throw back, repel, vomit” in the Imperial period.^[2] Rey instead treats the French verb as formed in French from the simple verb with the prefix re-, after the Latin verb.^[7]

Compare Old Occitan regetar, Portuguese rejeitar and Italian rigettare.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Chrétien de Troyes' Chevalier de la charrette (1176–1181), as regieter “to throw, cast off”, and about 1190 in the Roman de Renart for sending something far away from oneself.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Around 1200 the verb was used intransitively of a horse kicking, a sense limited to Old and Middle French.^[2] From about 1393 it was also said of a plant putting out new shoots.^[2][7] The senses “to throw out of oneself” (1256) and “to vomit” (13th century, Aldebrandin de Sienne) led to the figurative “to repel (someone)” (about 1480).^[7][2] A weaker figurative sense, “to cancel”, appears in 1463–1464.^[7][2]

In the 16th century the prefix took an iterative value, “to throw again”, and the main figurative senses developed: “to refuse, not admit” (1530, Palsgrave) and “to throw (blame or responsibility) back onto another” (1538, Estienne).^[7][9] Se rejeter meant “to throw oneself again” (1559, 1567 in Amyot) and “to fall back sharply” (1559).^[7][2] The noun rejet, first regiet (1241), and rejeton “young shoot; offspring” (1539), which replaced the older jetton, are derived from the verb.^[7][4]

Timeline

• 1176–1181 – Regieter in Chrétien de Troyes.^[2]
• c. 1200 – Of a horse kicking.^[2]
• 1241 – The noun regiet, later rejet.^[7][4]
• 13th century – “To vomit”, in Aldebrandin de Sienne.^[2]
• 1464 – Rejetter “to cancel”.^[2]
• 1530 – “To refuse, not admit”, in Palsgrave.^[9][7]
• 1538 – “To throw (the blame) onto another”.^[7][9]
• 1539 – Rejeton.^[4]
• 1552 – Rejetable.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To throw back: rejeter une truite dans la rivière.^[10][1]
2. To throw out, discharge, cast up: des algues rejetées par les vagues; of the body, to bring up, vomit.^[10][1]
3. To shift (blame, a fault, a responsibility) onto someone else: rejeter la faute sur son voisin.^[10][9]
4. To put or push elsewhere; to throw back (a part of the body): rejeter la tête en arrière;^[10] se rejeter en arrière: to throw oneself back.^[10][2]
5. To reject, refuse, not accept: rejeter une offre; of a court or assembly, to dismiss: rejeter un pourvoi.^[10][1]
6. To push (someone) away, spurn: se sentir rejeté.^[10][2]
7. (medicine) Of an organism: not to accept (a graft).^[10]

Word family

• rejet
• rejeton
• rejetable

Related words

• jeter
• Latin rēiectō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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 Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 16a
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert