satisfaire

Forms

satisfaire^[1] Old French also satifier (1288) and satisfier (14th century, until 1530), made after the verbs in -fier.^[2] Anglo-Norman satefier and satisfere.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin satisfaciō (“to discharge (a duty), to pay (a creditor), to make amends”), adapted after faire.^[5][2][4][6] The Latin verb is a compound of satis (“enough”) and faciō (“to do, to make”).^[2][7][8] Bloch and Wartburg point out that the Latin word was mainly legal: the French senses “to please” and “contentment” grew out of the idea of making good a wrong.^[4]

Compare Catalan satisfer, Spanish satisfacer, Portuguese satisfazer and Italian satisfare.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record (1219), in the cartulary of Cysoing, is satisfaire quelque chose à quelqu'un, “to pay something to someone”.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Old and Middle French used the verb in many constructions, intransitive as in Latin.^[2] Satisfaire ses creanciers “to pay off one's creditors” is found in the 14th century, and so is satisfaire à quelque chose “to fulfil what is required”, the construction still used today.^[5][2] The ideas of penance and reparation gave satisfaire à Dieu (about 1540), to make amends to God for sin, and in the 17th century the sense of making good an offence (1647, Rotrou).^[5][2]

The sense of contentment developed in the 16th and 17th centuries: “to grant someone's wishes” (1579), se satisfaire “to satisfy one's desire” in Montaigne (1580), se satisfaire de “to be content with” (1640), and in Corneille, with a thing as subject, “to appease a need or desire” (1642) and “to please” (1645).^[5][2] With a thing as subject, satisfaire à came to mean “to meet the required conditions” (1834, Balzac).^[5]

Timeline

• 1219 – Satisfaire quelque chose à quelqu'un “to pay” appears in the cartulary of Cysoing.^[5][2]
• 1288 – The variant satifier is recorded.^[2]
• 1370–1380 – Satiffier “to fulfil what is expected” in a translation of Ovid's Remedia amoris.^[5]
• c. 1500 – Commynes writes satisfaire à someone.^[5][8]
• c. 1540 – Satisfaire à Dieu appears in Herberay des Essarts' Amadis.^[5]
• 1579 – Larivey uses it for “to grant someone's wishes”.^[5]
• 1580 – Montaigne uses the reflexive se satisfaire.^[5][2]
• 1642 – Corneille uses it of a thing that appeases a need.^[5][9]
• 1647 – Rotrou uses it for making good an offence.^[5]
• 1834 – Balzac uses it of a thing that meets the conditions required.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To give someone what they ask for or expect, to content or please them; with a thing as subject, to suit or please: Sa réponse ne m'a pas satisfait.^[10][11][1]
2. To pay what is owed to someone: satisfaire ses créanciers.^[10][8]
3. To fulfil or gratify a need or desire: satisfaire sa faim.^[10][12]
4. Se satisfaire de: to be content with: se satisfaire de peu.^[10][5]
5. Satisfaire à: to fulfil an obligation or meet a requirement; with a thing as subject, to comply with standards.^[10][1]
6. (dated) Satisfaire à someone: to give someone the reparation they expect for an offence.^[10][9]

Word family

• satisfaisant
• satisfait
• insatisfait
• satisfaisable

Related words

• rassasier
• satisfaction
• faire
• Latin satisfaciō

Usage notes

In the 17th century Marguerite Buffet noted that many speakers dropped the first ⟨s⟩, saying satifaire and satifaction, and insisted that it be pronounced.^[8]

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ 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
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 11, 245a
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
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 f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)