renier

Forms

renier^[1] Old French raneier, reneier and renoier; the form renier prevails from the 13th century.^[2][3] Anglo-Norman spellings include renaer, renaier, reneier, renoier and renyer.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French reneier, inherited from Vulgar Latin renegō (“to refuse, deny”), a word recorded in a 10th-century gloss.^[5][2][6] It is formed with re-, used as an intensive, and negō (“to deny, refuse”); in Christian circles it must have taken on the sense "to apostatize", which Italian shares.^[2][5][7] Its sound development ran parallel to that of nier.^[7] Middle French also had renaguer (1552, Rabelais).^[5]

Cognate with Italian rinnegare, Occitan renegar, Catalan renegar, Spanish renegar and Portuguese renegar.^[8][9] The learned renégat goes back to the same Latin verb.^[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is raneiet in the Sequence of Saint Eulalia (late 9th century), in the line Qu'elle Deo raneiet “that she should renounce God”.^[5][9][3]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages the verb meant above all "to apostatize, abjure one's faith", and only rarely "to refuse".^[7] From the religious sense it spread into common use as "to disown" one's country or kin (about 1160) and "to be unfaithful to" a value or cause (about 1240).^[2][3] The sense "to deny knowing someone", as Saint Peter denied Jesus, is found from the 12th century in Littré's quotations,^[9] and Rey dates a general sense "to refuse to admit that one knows" to about 1553, now out of use.^[2] The broader modern senses grew out of the medieval one from the 17th century.^[7]

In classical French renier used absolutely meant "to blaspheme" (1534, Rabelais), like renier Dieu;^[5][2] the oath gave the old interjection jarnidieu.^[5][8] The phrase renier chrême et baptême meant figuratively "to lose patience" (1689).^[2] The reflexive se renier, first "to abjure one's faith or party" (early 13th century), took the weaker sense "to go back on one's own statements" in 1847.^[2]

English renege (1540s) comes from the Medieval Latin verb rather than from French.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 881 – Raneiet appears in the Sequence of Saint Eulalia, meaning "to renounce (God)".^[5][2]
• c. 1155 – Wace writes reneier and renoier.^[3][2]
• c. 1160 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it for disowning a person.^[3][2]
• c. 1160 – The noun reniement is first recorded, as reneiement.^[2]
• c. 1240 – It is used for being unfaithful to a value or cause.^[2][3]
• 13th century – The form renier prevails.^[2]
• 1534 – Rabelais uses it absolutely for "to blaspheme".^[5]
• 1689 – Renier chrême et baptême is recorded as "to lose patience".^[2]
• 1847 – Se renier takes the sense "to go back on what one has said".^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To declare that one no longer believes in God or a god, to renounce: renier Dieu.^[11][5]
2. (dated) To declare falsely that one does not know someone: Pierre renia son maître.^[11][3]
3. To disown or repudiate someone: il a renié son frère.^[11][1]
4. To abandon what one should have stayed faithful to, such as a faith, a cause or a party; to abjure.^[11][5]
5. (reflexive) se renier: to go back on what one has said or done, to renege.^[1][2]

Word family

• reniement
• reniable
• renieur

Related words

• nier
• renégat
• Latin negō
• English renege

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 p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 253a
7. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert