soucier

Forms

soucier^[1] Old French soussier, present participle susiant.^[2][3] Anglo-Norman spellings include sossier and sussier.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French soussier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *sollicītō, an alteration of Classical Latin sollicitō (“to stir up, agitate, disturb, worry”), whose second /i/ was short.^[2][3][5] The TLFi and Bloch and Wartburg explain the long vowel by the influence of excitus, the past participle of exciō (“to call forth, rouse, excite”).^[2][6] Bloch and Wartburg compare the same alteration in Old Occitan reissidar and eissidar “to awaken”.^[6]

The same Latin verb was later borrowed as solliciter, so the two are doublets.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The present participle susiant “anxious” appears about 1223 in Gautier de Coinci's Miracles; the reflexive soi soussier “to torment oneself, to worry” and the transitive soussier aucun “to give someone worry” are both found in Jean de Meun's part of the Roman de la Rose (1269–78).^[2]

Semantic evolution

The verb first meant “to cause someone worry”, and se soucier “to fret, to torment oneself”; that reflexive sense has gone, but already in the 13th century se soucier de meant “to take an interest in” something or someone.^[3] Bloch and Wartburg note that the word has always been used mainly in the reflexive.^[6]

From the 16th century se soucier de is used mostly with a negative or restrictive turn: ne pas se soucier de (1538), se soucier peu de; it also meant “not to fear to” (1549) and “not to wish to” (1559).^[3] A comparison often takes the place of the negation: s'en soucier comme de l'an quarante (1791), comme de sa première chemise (1875) and comme d'une guigne (early 20th century), the guigne being a kind of cherry.^[3] Se soucier de quelqu'un “to love someone” (1672) has dropped out of use.^[3]

The transitive verb in its first sense survives in literary use with a thing as subject (cela me soucie).^[3][2]

Timeline

• c. 1223 – The participle susiant appears in Gautier de Coinci.^[2]
• 1269–78 – Jean de Meun uses soi soussier “to worry” and transitive soussier “to trouble”.^[2]
• 1538 – Ne pas se soucier de is recorded.^[3]
• 1672 – Se soucier de quelqu'un means “to love someone”.^[3]
• 1791 – S'en soucier comme de l'an quarante is first recorded.^[3]
• 1875 – Comme de sa première chemise is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, dated or literary) To worry someone, cause them concern: cette affaire le soucie.^[7][2][8]
2. Se soucier (dated, literary): to be anxious, to fret.^[7][9]
3. Se soucier de: to care about, be concerned with, take an interest in, mostly in the negative: elle ne se soucie guère de l'opinion des voisins.^[7][9]
4. Se soucier comme de l'an quarante de something, s'en soucier comme de sa première chemise: not to care in the least about it.^[7][1][3]

Word family

• insouciant
• soucieux
• souci¹

Related words

• solliciter
• Latin sollicitō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
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 c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette