Etymologically
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ressentir

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:02. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁə.sɑ̃.tiʁ/[1]
  • IPA: /sə ʁsɑ̃.tiʁ/[1]

Forms

ressentir[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French re- + sentir.[2][3][4][1][5] “Sentir” comes from Latin sentiō (“to feel, perceive”).[6]

Compare Old Occitan resentir, Spanish resentir and Italian risentire.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Béroul's Tristan (late 12th century) it means to feel in sympathy what another feels: l'un por l'autre resent mal “each feels pain for the other”.[2] The Grand Robert and the GLLF cite soi resentir “to feel oneself again”, on coming to, in a miracle of Saint Thomas (about 1190).[3][4][2]

Semantic evolution

Jean de Meun (1268–1278) uses it for feeling the painful effect of an outside cause; in the Middle Ages it also meant to smell, or to smell of: les aux rescent le mortier “the mortar smells of garlic” (13th century).[2][3] Montaigne (1580) has it for being aware of a feeling, ressenti un singulier contentement de la victoire.[2][7]

In the 16th and 17th centuries it also meant to resent an injury and wish to avenge it, as in Amyot's te ressentir des dommages, the sense kept by ressentiment (1580); to feel gratitude for a favour (1633); and, of a thing, to show the marks of something: Thevet (1554) says the language of Malta ressentoit encore le vieil langage de Carthage.[7][2][6]

Timeline

  • late 12th century – “To feel in sympathy”, Béroul.[2]
  • c. 1190 – Soi resentir “to feel oneself again”.[3][4]
  • 13th century – “To smell of”.[2]
  • 1268–1278 – To feel a painful effect, Jean de Meun.[2]
  • 1554 – “To bear the marks of”, Thevet.[2]
  • 1580 – To feel an emotion, Montaigne.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To feel (a sensation or emotion), often keenly: ressentir une douleur, ressentir de la colère.[8][1][4]
  2. To be affected by, feel the effect of: ressentir un outrage.[8]
  3. Se ressentir de: to suffer from the effects of, show the marks of: il se ressent de sa chute.[1][2]

Word family

  • ressentiment

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 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. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 468a
  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. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert