relier

Forms

relier^[1] Old French reloier, relier.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is formed from French re- + lier (“to tie”).^[2][3][4][5] Littré and Wiktionary also connect it with Latin religō (“to tie back, bind”).^[6][1] The FEW places it under ligō (“to tie”).^[7] The Old French form reloier follows the old forms of lier, whose ⟨i⟩ spread from the stressed forms through the whole verb.^[2][8]

Cognate with Italian rilegare, Catalan relligar and Spanish religar.^[6][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in Étienne de Fougères's Livre des manières (1174–1178), means “to tie tightly”: an adulterous wife is bound fast at the shoulder.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the verb meant to tie fast and to bandage a wounded limb (end of the 12th century), and to hold together the parts of one object: the staves of a vat with hoops (about 1200), the leaves of an old book (1266), the bundles of tanners' bark (1308).^[2][10] The binding of books, first manuscripts and then, from the 16th century, printed books, became a sense of its own, apart from lier, and set relier against brocher.^[10]

From the 15th century it also meant to join two separate things (a wall to an old one, 1425), then to link places by a route (1842, two railways) and to connect ideas or people (1834).^[2][5][10] The literal sense “to tie again”, the opposite of délier, is recorded from 1564 and is now rare.^[10][5]

Timeline

• 1174–1178 – Étienne de Fougères uses it for tying tightly.^[2]
• End of the 12th century – It is used for bandaging the arms.^[2]
• c. 1200 – Aliscans uses it for hooping a vat.^[2][5]
• 1266 – First used for binding an old book.^[2]
• 1328 – The derivative reliage is recorded for hooping wine casks.^[2]
• 1425 – A document from Tournai uses it for joining a wall to an older one.^[2]
• 1564 – First record of the sense “to tie again”.^[10][5]
• 1842 – Mozin records relier deux chemins de fer.^[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To connect or link things, to fasten one to another: relier deux points par une ligne.^[4][2]
2. To link places by a means of communication: Un pont relie les deux rives.^[4][5]
3. (figurative) To relate or connect ideas or facts: relier le présent au passé.^[6][11]
4. To bind a book, sewing the gatherings and giving them a rigid cover: un livre relié en cuir.^[4][12]
5. (technical) To hoop the staves of a barrel.^[4][6]
6. (rare) To tie again.^[2][6]

Word family

• relieur
• reliure
• reliage

Related words

• lier
• délier
• Latin religō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ 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
6. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 324a
8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
12. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)