songer

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɔ̃.ʒe/^[1]

Forms

songer^[1] Old French sunjer, songier, also sonjer.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French songier, inherited from Latin somniō (“to dream; to see in a dream”),^{[2][3][5][1][6]} from somnium (“dream”).^[7][4] In Old French some forms of the verb were close to those of soignier (see soigner), and songe to soigne (“care”); the phrases songier a (“to think of”) and soignier a (“to take care of”) were also close in meaning.^[2][4]

Cognate with Italian sognare, Old Occitan somnhar, Catalan somiar, Spanish soñar and Portuguese sonhar.^[8][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has it in the sense “to see in a dream”: Charlemagne Sunjat qu'il eret as greignurs porz de Sizer “dreamt that he was at the great passes of Cize”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Chrétien de Troyes's Chevalier au lion (1176–81) has “to give oneself up to reverie, sit idle”, the sense behind songe-creux.^[2] In the 13th century songer a came to mean “to think of”, songier que (1280) “to imagine that”, and Rutebeuf (about 1263) uses it transitively for “to invent”.^[2] Littré thinks the sense “think of” may have grown from “dream” but was helped along by songe in the sense “care”.^[4]

Robert Estienne (1538) has songer à with an infinitive, “to think of doing”; phrases such as vous n'y songez pas (1668, Molière) and songer à mal (1659, Molière) belong to the classical age.^[2][7] The sense “to dream” has become dated or literary, rêver having taken its place.^[2][9]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – “To see in a dream”, Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• 1176–81 – “To muse, sit idle”, Chrétien de Troyes.^[2]
• 13th century – Songer a “to think of”, in the prose Lancelot.^[2]
• 1280 – Songier que “to imagine that”, Philippe de Beaumanoir.^[2]
• 1530 – Songer de “to dream of”, Palsgrave.^[2]
• 1538 – Songer à with an infinitive, Robert Estienne.^[2]
• 1668 – Vous n'y songez pas, Molière.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. (dated) To have a dream, to dream, songer de, to see in a dream.^[9][1]
2. To muse, let one's thoughts wander; to daydream.^[9]
3. Songer à: to think of, consider; to remember; to think about doing.^[9][1]
4. Songer que: to bear in mind that, reflect that.^[9][2]
5. (literary) To imagine, dream of (something).^[1][2]

Word family

• songeur
• songerie
• songe-creux

Related words

• songe
• soigner

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 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
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 85a
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert