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semonce

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Etymology and origin of the French word semonce

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1050 Vie de saint Alexis More words from the 11th century
Ultimate origin
Latin moneō

Pronunciation

  • /sə.mɔ̃s/[1]

Forms

semonce f (plural semonces)[1] Old French summunse (about 1050), somonse, semonse and cemonse (about 1190); semonce is a 13th-century respelling.[2][3][4] Anglo-Norman spellings include somons, somonse, semunse and somounce.[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French summunse, the feminine past participle, used as a noun, from Old French somondre (“to exhort, invite”), later semondre.[2][6][1] The verb came from Vulgar Latin *submoneō (“to warn secretly”), with a short ⟨e⟩, beside Classical Latin submoneō, formed with sub-, which marked an action done in secret, and moneō (“to warn, remind”).[3][2][7] It changed conjugation in the same way as répondre, and its prefix developed as in séjourner.[6][2] Rey links the Latin verb to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *men- of mental activity.[3]

Cognate with Old Occitan somonsa and somosta.[7][8] The English word summons is borrowed from the Old French noun.[1][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) summunse means an exhortation, an urging to do something.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In Old French the word meant an invitation, as to a feast (Wace, 1155), and in particular the call of a king or lord to his vassals to perform a duty (1160–74).[2][3] Bloch and Wartburg describe it first as a legal term for a kind of convocation; it named a summons to appear in court (1174); from the 14th century it also named a call to arms of vassals and soldiers.[6][2] The sense “invitation to a wedding” (about 1534), a main use of the verb semondre, was already called old in 1680.[3]

From the 16th century it meant a warning (1544); since the middle of the 17th century it has meant a warning made as a rebuke, a reprimand, which is the main modern sense, in a formal register.[2][3][10] In the navy, from about 1720, it is the order to a ship to show its colours and, if need be, to stop;[2][3][11] coup de semonce (1803, Boiste), a gun fired to back up this order, came into general use for a stern warning before stronger action.[2][3][11] The verb semondre itself lasted into the classical period: the Académie found it only of weddings in 1694 and called it old in 1718.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1050 – Summunse “exhortation” in the Vie de saint Alexis.[2]
  • 1155 – Sumunse “invitation to a feast” in Wace's Brut.[2]
  • 1160–74 – Semonse for a lord's call to his vassals, in Wace's Rou.[2]
  • 1174 – A summons to appear in court, in Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence.[2]
  • c. 1300 – English borrows the Old French noun as somoun, later summons.[9]
  • 1544 – The sense “warning” appears, in the Amadis.[2]
  • mid-17th century – The sense “reprimand” appears.[3][10]
  • c. 1720 – Naval use for the order to a ship to show its colours.[2][3]
  • 1803 – Boiste records coup de semonce.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A reprimand, a warning given with reproaches: recevoir une semonce de son chef.[10][11]
  2. (nautical) An order to a ship to show its colours and, if need be, to stop.[10][11]
  3. Coup de semonce: a gunshot, live or blank, backing up that order;[11][12] (figurative) a stern warning before harsher action.[11][12]
  4. (obsolete) A summons or convocation issued by a king or lord, or an invitation to a ceremony.[10][4]

Word family

  • semoncer
  • semondre
  • Latin submoneō
  • English summons

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 l m n o p q 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 e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  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 c d e f Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Semonce.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/semonce. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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