repasser

Forms

repasser^[1] Old French respasser (about 1160) and rapasser.^[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is formed from French re- + passer.^{[3][2][6][1][7]} The base verb is from Vulgar Latin *passō, from passus (“step”).^[8]

The earliest sense, “to heal”, may have arisen as the opposite of the simple verb in its sense “to die”, according to Rey.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found about 1160 as respasser “to heal” in the Roman d'Eneas;^[3][2] the Anglo-Norman Dictionary records the verb as early as 1136–1137, both for passing again and for curing.^[4] The GLLF dates the sense “go back where one came from” to about 1160 in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The sense “heal” died out in the 15th century.^[2] As the iterative of passer, the verb meant “cross again”, as of the sea (about 1175), then “pass through a place again” (1538) and “come back to see someone” (1694); the last gave the ironic tu repasseras (1964), a refusal or a sign of disbelief.^[3][2][10] Figuratively it was used of images that come back to mind (1613) and of going over something in one's mind (1606), especially a subject for study (1558), a use still current for exams.^[2][3]

With the added idea of exchange it meant “hand on again” (1893), as in repasser les plats (1932).^[2] Several technical senses grew from work done in more than one stage: “retouch” a literary or artistic work (1671, now lost), “press linen with a hot iron” (1669), now the usual sense, “sharpen knives” (1679), “dress leather again” (1690), “redistil weak brandy” (1904) and “overhaul a watch” (1875).^[2][3] In slang it came to mean “mistreat” (1808), “kill”, and “swindle” (1855).^[2] The familiar “pass on, palm off” is dated to 1805 by the Quemada datings, against 1867 in the FEW.^[11] In the 20th century it also means “take again”, of an exam or medical check.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1160 – Respasser “heal” appears in the Roman d'Eneas.^[3][2]
• c. 1175 – It means “cross again”, of the sea.^[3][2]
• 1280 – Philippe de Beaumanoir uses it for “make someone cross again”.^[3]
• 1538 – R. Estienne records “pass again through a place”.^[3][9]
• 1558 – It is used of going over a subject of study.^[2]
• 1669 – The sense “iron linen” is recorded.^[3][2]
• 1679 – Richelet records “sharpen knives”.^[3][2]
• 1694 – The Académie records “come back to see someone”.^[3][2]
• 1808 – Slang “mistreat” appears.^[2]
• 1855 – Slang “swindle” appears.^[2]
• 1904 – It is used for redistilling weak brandy.^[3][2]
• 1964 – Tu repasseras is recorded.^[2][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To pass again, to come back to a place: Le facteur repassera demain.^[12][10][13]
2. (intransitive) To call again on someone: Je repasserai te voir ce soir.^[12][10]
3. (intransitive, figurative) Of memories, to come back to mind.^[12][3]
4. Tu repasseras (familiar): a refusal, “no chance”.^[10][2]
5. (transitive) To cross again: Ils ont repassé la frontière.^[12][5]
6. (transitive) To take an exam again, to resit it.^[12][1]
7. (transitive) To hand round again: repasser les plats.^[12][2]
8. (transitive, familiar) To pass on what one has received, to palm off.^[12][11]
9. (transitive) To iron clothes or linen: Il repasse ses chemises le dimanche.^[1][2]
10. (transitive) To sharpen a blade.^[2][3]
11. (transitive) To go over something in one's mind, to revise a lesson.^[2][5]

Word family

• repassage
• repasseur
• repasseuse
• repasse
• fer à repasser
• planche à repasser

Related words

• passer
• Latin passus

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 r s t u v w x y z Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 717a
8. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
12. ^ a b c d e f g Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
13. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)