Etymologically
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repartir

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁə.paʁ.tiʁ/[1]

Forms

repartir[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French re- + partir.[2][3][1][4] “Partir” comes from a Vulgar Latin “*partire”, for classical Latin partior (“to share, divide”); it first meant “to share” and developed the sense “to leave” through “se partir de” “to part from”.[5]

The sense “to retort” (1580) is either the same formation or a specialization of the verb; the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert give it a numbered entry of its own, conjugated with “avoir”.[6][2][7] Littré saw a “repartie” as a quip that “goes off again”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Adenet le Roi (1273) uses it for going back to the place one came from.[3][2][6]

Semantic evolution

In 1611 it was a riding term, and Furetière (1690) has “to set off again after a halt”; figuratively it means to start again, as in repartir à zéro.[6][3][2] The familiar c'est reparti ! “here we go again” is recent.[7][1]

Montaigne (1580) introduced the sense “to answer back quickly”: si je n'ay de quoy repartir brusquement sur le champ.[2][8][4] From it came repartie “retort” (1606), and Molière's sans repartie “beyond dispute” (1656).[6]

Timeline

  • 1273 – To go back, Adenet le Roi.[3]
  • 1580 – “To retort”, Montaigne.[2][6]
  • 1606 – Repartie.[6]
  • 1611 – A riding term.[2][6]
  • 1690 – To set off again, Furetière.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To leave again, set off again: le train va repartir.[7][1]
  2. To go back, return to where one came from: il est reparti chez lui.[7][3]
  3. (figurative) To start again, pick up: repartir à zéro, l'affaire repart, c'est reparti !.[7][1]
  4. (literary, with avoir) To retort, reply promptly: « Il n'y a rien de si possible », repartit l'autre.[7][3][1]

Word family

  • repartie

Usage notes

In the sense “to leave again” the verb takes être (il est reparti); in the sense “to retort” it takes avoir (il a reparti).[3][7] It should not be confused with répartir “to distribute”, and Littré already condemned the pronunciation répartir and répartie for repartir and repartie.[7][4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ 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