repenser

Forms

repenser^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French re- + penser “to think”.^[2][3][4][5] Bloch and Wartburg list it among the derivatives of that verb, dating it to about 1185.^[6] The verb itself goes back to Latin pēnsō (“to weigh, to judge”), the frequentative of pendō (“to weigh”), which had taken the sense “to think” by the 6th century.^[6]

Littré compares Walloon rapeinsé, Occitan repensar, Spanish repensar and Italian ripensare.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Hue de Rotelande's Ipomedon (about 1180) uses it transitively for “to think again of (something)”.^[2] In Aimon de Varennes's Florimont (1188) repenser a means “to think, in one's turn, of (someone)”: the princess thinks of the hero as he thinks of her.^[2] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary glosses its early uses as “to think also, in addition” and “to reflect, think further on”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

From about 1200 the verb also meant “to reflect on (something)” and, used without an object, “to think again”.^[2] The Middle French proverb mal pense qui ne repense is recorded by Cotgrave.^[7] The derivatives repensé (late 16th century) and repensement (1538) did not survive.^[9]

A new transitive sense, “to consider afresh, setting aside the ideas already expressed”, appears in Taine in 1853, who said of La Fontaine that he takes an idea and “rethinks” it so as to give it life a second time.^[2][4] Rey dates to 1935 the sense “to find a new conception for a work”,^[9] and the GLLF quotes Le Monde (1956) for “to reconsider, examine again”.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1180 – Hue de Rotelande uses repenser for “to think again of”.^[2]
• 1188 – Repenser a in Aimon de Varennes's Florimont.^[2]
• c. 1200 – The sense “to reflect on” appears in a translation of Job.^[2]
• 13th century – Ge repenseré à toi in a psalter.^[7]
• 1538 – The noun repensement is recorded; it later dropped out of use.^[9]
• 1853 – Taine uses it for “to rethink” an idea.^[2]
• 1935 – Recorded for “to find a new conception for a work”.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. (indirect transitive) To think of something again, to reflect on it further: j'y repense souvent, “I often think about it again”.^[4][11][12]
2. (transitive) To rethink or reconsider something from a new point of view: repenser un projet de loi, “to rethink a bill”.^[4][11][10]

Related words

• penser
• pensée
• Latin pēnsō

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 196b
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
12. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)