soigner

Pronunciation

• IPA: /swa.ɲe/^[1]

Forms

soigner^[1] Old French soignier, songnier;^[2][3][4] soigner from the 14th century.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French soignier, inherited from Medieval Latin soniō (“to take care; to provide for”), recorded from the 7th century, itself borrowed from Frankish *sunnjōn (“to look after”), a derivative of *sunnja (“care”), reconstructed from Old Saxon sunnea (“care”).^[2][3][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg derive it straight from the Frankish verb and Old French soigne (“care”) from the Frankish noun; compare besoin.^[7] An Old Italian word and Old Occitan sonh were borrowed from French.^[7][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Guillaume d'Angleterre (about 1165), attributed to Chrétien de Troyes, it means “to provide, supply”; 13th-century charters use songnier for supplying timber or a cart.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

Until the 16th century it also meant “to be anxious, to see to”, construed with de (Froissart: soigner de Tournay, to take care of Tournai) and then with à (1538), a use in which it interfered with songer.^[8][2][7][9] Robert Estienne (1538) has the transitive “to take care of”, and the 1718 Académie soigner les bêtes, soigner un enfant.^[8][2]

The now usual sense “to treat (a sick person)” is recorded by Monet in 1636, with se soigner from 1829.^[8][2] Soigner son style “to take care over” is in Trévoux (1771).^[8] By antiphrase, soigner quelqu'un meant “to thrash” (1867), and il faut te faire soigner, “you must be mad”, is a 20th-century phrase.^[2][4]

Timeline

• c. 1080 – The noun soin, in the Chanson de Roland.^[7]
• c. 1165 – “To provide”, in Guillaume d'Angleterre.^[8]
• c. 1360 – Soigner de “to see to”.^[2][3]
• 1538 – “To take care of”, in Robert Estienne.^[8]
• 1636 – Soigner un malade, in Monet.^[8]
• 1771 – Soigner son style.^[8]
• 1867 – “To thrash”, by antiphrase.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To look after, take care of (a person, an animal, a thing): soigner ses hôtes, soigner des fleurs.^[5][1]
2. To treat, nurse (a sick person or an illness).^[1][8]
3. To take great care over: soigner les détails, soigner son style.^[8][9]
4. Se soigner: to look after oneself; to take treatment, ça se soigne !, you're mad!^[10][2]
5. (familiar, ironic) To treat harshly; to overcharge.^[4][2]

Word family

• soin
• soigneux
• soigneusement
• soignant
• soigné
• soigneur

Related words

• besoin
• songer

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
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. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 17, 273a
7. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
9. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)