Etymologically
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songer

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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

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